Wings of Flame
by charpal
Summary: Two hundred years since Ash Ketchum’s time, the world looks decidedly bleaker. Pokemon are rarely ever found in the wild anymore, so what is an aspiring trainer to do to become great? Rated for violence and mild language
1. Prologue

A/N: Welcome to Wings of Flame. I hope you enojoy this story, as it's not like most of the trainer fics out there. This first chapter was recently rewritten, os if the writing doesn't seem to be as good in the next chapter, just keep reading: it eventually gets better. I probably won't re-do any more chapters though, because I have a sequal to write! Anyway, read on and enjoy.

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Two hundred long, grueling years have passed since that single day in history. It was a day that made all the newspapers and was talked about for months afterward. It was the day when pokemon trainer Ash Ketchum defeated his last opponent in the final match of the World Pokemon League, becoming the youngest Pokemon Master to date at the age of nineteen. His record still has not been broken.

But two hundred years is a long time, and much can happen. Pokemon training was popular and if a person gained some rank, they would be honored as a hero in their town. Life could get no better. More and more pokemon were caught, and more and more trainers searched the forests, plains, and seas. Everyone wanted to be like Ketchum, so naturally they caught his same pokemon. Picachu are now extinct, as are chicorita and squirtle. Charmader and bulbasaur so rarely seen that they might as well be. Now, most plains are wastelands and most forests are bare. Wild pokemon are rarely seen and thought of by most to be myth.

Pokemon training became so popular that Academies were built, schools to teach and train students how to become the best. Trainers do not travel around the country any longer; they stay at their Academy until the age of eighteen. When they graduate they receive a pokemon. For most, this will be their only pokemon, for purchasing another would cost a great deal of money. The reason for this is cloning. Because of the rarity of wild pokemon, they must be created in labs, using DNA strands that are ages old and beginning to fail from strained use.

It is difficult to create a stable pokemon, so the scientists do not want to risk a premature deterioration. A pokemon is given to a child based on that child's strengths so that they might be better suited to help that pokemon. A student that is known to be swift of foot would most likely receive a ponyta or doduo, whereas someone who adapts well to circumstances would acquire an eevee for their first.

The Pokedex is a thing of the past. The classes at the Academies take the place of any information a Pokedex could supply. By the time a student graduates, they already know all the moves of which a pokemon is capable and the best medicine that should be applied to the various types of wounds a pokemon might receive as well as the peculiarities associated with the different types. One has not been seen for decades.

There is a certain student that attends an Academy that is far from her birth town in Cinnabar Island. The student, Erin, does not feel like she fits in there and doesn't care much for protocol and procedure. Because of her indifferent attitude, she has many acquaintances, but little friends. This doesn't bother Erin. In fact, she rather enjoys her solitude, but when she wants company, she wanders over to the laboratory section of the school and helps a scientist by the name of Professor Chronal. He is the closest thing to a friend that Erin has. What Erin is not aware of is that she has a destiny greater than that of the one she is leading inside her Academy


	2. Difficult Beginning

Erin stomped through the bleach-white doors of Professor Chronal's private lab and into a room that was just as unnaturally white, helping the door to close by slamming it into place. "I'm sick of it!" she screamed. "I'm sick of everything about this stupid place! These stupid people and their stupid training tactics: I can't take any more of it!" Erin continued to yell as she set her book bag down hard on the only clean surface in the lab.

The professor hurried around the corner with a test tube in one hand and goggles over his eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked, worried.

Erin looked up at him, the anger leaving her fiery eyes, and sat with a huff into a chair that matched the color of the rest of the room. Her head felt suddenly heavy and she rested it on her hands. "Why do we have to come to these pompous schools to become a trainer?" was her reply.

Not believing for a second this was the center of Erin's problem, Chronal answered anyway. "Well, to be a capable trainer, you have to know about pokemon, and you go to schools to learn."

"That's not a good answer," Erin said into her hands. "Earlier trainers didn't have to go to a school. They started training with a pokemon when they reached the age of ten. How else would Ash have beaten every known Master at nineteen?" Then she looked up at the professor as he set down the test tube and lifted the goggles from his vision. "Prof, did you ever want to be pokemon trainer?" she asked him.

"Humph," he gruffed. "Me? No. I knew I didn't have it in me to train a pokemon. It would be too much trouble to try and get something with a mind of its own to obey my commands. I much prefer chemicals that do exactly what I tell them to do. Now," he continued. "What is the real reason that you're upset?" 

When Erin brows scrunched in anger once more and she looked at the ground in deep thought, Chronal knew it must be something serious. "They expelled me," she replied in a monotone voice. 

Chronal, however was not so calm. "What!" he yelled in surprise. "Whatever for?" But as soon as the words were out of his mouth Chronal knew that Erin must have been fighting again. She still had two years until she graduated, but Erin was the best martial artist in the school. When a young student was being pushed around by those about to graduate, Erin was often seen in the middle breaking up the dispute with her kicks and punches. It was never serious enough to risk expulsion, so Chronal wondered what she could have done this time.

"All right," she began. "Today some alumni came back. He said it was to check up on how the school was going and crap like that, but of course it was only to show off his pokemon. I don't know what his name is, but he was one of the better members of the swim team until he graduated two years ago. He left with a poliwag and it didn't evolve into a poliwhirl until a few weeks ago. Sure, that's impressive now, but just think about it Professor," she said, looking at him. "Actually _think_ about it: two whole years to get a single pokemon to evolve. That's crap."

"So what happened to get you expelled?" the Professor asked.

"Well, he was showing off his poliwhirl to anyone who would watch for a long time, and he began to get tired and not 'perform' as well as his trainer wanted him too, so the trainer started yelling at him and when he still didn't get better, the kid kicked him. I couldn't watch it, so I told him to stop, and then he tried to push me out of the way and I kicked him in the stomach. Needless to say when he tried to beat me up I had to defend myself. He ended up in the nurse's office, but he'll live." Erin looked back down at the floor and spoke again, though softer. "I just couldn't watch him beat up his pokemon when it was doing its best. And now I won't get one ever." A single tear emerged from the corner of her eye.

Chronal never did like to see children unhappy, and Erin was his favorite student at the school. He made up his mind and walked over to a cluttered shelf and picked something up that was wrapped in a gray cloth. He opened it up to reveal a flat red device. "Look at this Erin. I found an extremely old one and built a new one, transferring all the information." Erin's natural curiosity took hold and she stood up to get a better view. "Despite all we know about pokemon, so much has been lost over the years, but with the information stored in the one I found I was able to-" 

"Professor," said Erin, interrupting him. "Is that a…a pokedex?" she asked hesitantly. 

"Yes!" answered Chronal excitedly. "And the one that I found had so much information on it about pokemon on it that I believe it must have been Ketchum's. And now all that information is on this, plus all the new things we have learned over the years. Pokemon whose records have been lost and ones we never even knew existed. It's amazing, and I, um," he hesitated at this point. "I want you to have it, Erin."

"What!" she said, surprised. "Why? Don't you need it?"

"No, I've already copied the information to a disk so I will be able to create more if need be, but since you have to leave and you don't have a pokemon…I wanted you to have something at least."

"Thanks, Professor," Erin said, straitening up. "You always were the coolest person here. I don't know how I would have survived if I wasn't allowed to hide in here when the teachers came after me." She wasn't the least bit sad that she would have to leave the academy, but the thought of never gaining a pokemon was devastating to her. She attempted to laugh it off, however: "Heh, maybe it's best I leave. They probably would have stuck me with a machop anyway. Even though I like fighting, a machop is not the pokemon I want."

The next morning, Erin left the academy without a second of hesitation or a single look back, grateful to Professor Chronal for entrusting her with such a precious gift, and hopeful that there would be something else in the would that could fulfill the need that the academy and the teachers there were unable to grasp, Erin set out.


	3. Fiery Discovery

Erin walked along a path in a dying forest, the trees few and far apart. "I don't even have a map," she was saying to herself. "How am I supposed to find my way around anywhere if I don't have a map to see where I'm going?" By talking to herself, Erin was attempting to push the thought of never receiving a pokemon far to the back of her mind. "I assume I'll get somewhere where I can either get a map or ask for directions if I simply follow this path," she continued. The trail was dusty and now her boots were as well. When she left the school, only Professor Chronal tried to help her. She now had some scrapings of food, a bedroll, and a little money that would, hopefully, suffice until she reached the next town.

             Erin looked around at the forest once more and sighed. "This must have been beautiful once. Now everything is dying and the plants that do survive don't live as long or grow to be as big." She sighed again. "I wonder what it must have been like, to see a forest full of life in wonderful shades of green."

            Unknown to Erin, she was being observed by a pair of manky cubs attempting to hide themselves in the sparse branches of a nearby tree. The young manky were as curious as any child would be and wanted to get a better look at Erin. "I wonder if all humans talk to themselves," said one. "I don't think so," said another. "Maybe this one's just crazy." "I wonder what would happen if we threw a rock at it," said the first." The second one made a shuffling noise as he became frightened. "No! You can't do that! Remember what mom said." Erin heard the noise and stopped talking to look behind her and spotted the dusty colored manky, who instantly froze.

            Erin, too, was startled. "Oh my gosh! Wild pokemon! There's barely any pokemon ever seen in the wild anymore. Man, what would the professor say?" Erin's talking must have shocked the manky out of their trance, because then they hopped away through the trees. "Oh, please don't leave!" said Erin to no avail. "Darn it, I just wanted to look at them." Slightly disappointed that the manky left, but also cheered at simply seeing them, Erin set off again, only to stop an hour later to sit on a tree stump for lunch, careful to keep her rations small incase she had trouble reaching the next town. After she finished with a tiny and rather disappointing meal, Erin took out the pokedex that Professor Chronal had given her, wondering what lost bits of technology and information were stored in its tiny database. She pressed the blue button on the front that she assumed turned it on. Erin was right and was rewarded by the device opening somewhat like a book, only to have a translucent screen appear in front of her face, as well as a keyboard above its red base. "Whoa," she said, surprised and impressed. "It's the same concept as the computers at school." The Prof always could do amazing things with computers, she thought to herself. Erin tapped the screen that had appeared in front of her, as well as the keyboard. Both were solid, when before they had been no more than light.

            "Wonder what it can do?" But before she was able press anything, Erin heard the muffled sounds of someone fighting, as well as angry yells, but they sounded strange somehow. Not knowing how to turn the pokedex off, Erin tried pressing the same blue button. The keyboard and screen disappeared and the pokedex shut itself. Stuffing the last cracker into her mouth, she carefully replaced the pokedex into her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and jogged in the direction of the noise. "I wonder what's happening." Continuing to jog, the forest flattened out into solid stone and she came upon a rock formation. Hearing the noise coming from behind the rocks, Erin crept as quietly around the rocks as she could to see what has going on. What she saw made her heart catch in her throat as she held her breath. In front of her were a combusken and a charmeleon, fighting each other. Erin gasped and looked on in silent wonder as the two dodged and attacked, each trying to outdo the other. 

            She looked on as the combusken took advantage of its ability to fly and leaped over the charmeleon attempting to catch it off guard from behind. But the charmeleon was quicker and had a better reaction time. It turned so its back faced Erin and lashed out with deadly precision at its opponent. Erin gasped again. The charmeleon's back was graced with jagged black stripes. She was sure that none of the pictures she had seen of a Char had those markings. The charmeleon's attack seemed to be too much for the combusken to handle, for it soon squawked and flew away awkwardly, leaving the charmeleon to catch his breath. 

            In the silence that followed, the charmeleon must have heard Erin's excited breathing, for it turned quickly, instantly taking on a defensive stance. Erin gave a small yelp, startled and slightly fearful that the charmeleon would turn its attack on her.

            "A human," he growled. "I'm stronger than any weak lab-bread pokemon you might have gotten, and I won't simply waltz into a pokeball, so you might as well forget about it and leave.

            Understanding now that the charmeleon would most likely not attack her if he didn't feel threatened, Erin attempted to make herself appear as threat to him. "I don't have a pokemon," she answered sadly. "I don't have any pokeballs either. You have to be a trainer before they give you any."

            "You don't come from that school-thing a ways off?" the charmeleon asked, pointing in the direction of her academy.

            "Well, yes, I do. But I don't have a pokemon because I was expelled for fighting."

            "Fighting?" he said, at once interested in her explanations. "Why were you fighting?"

            Erin continued to explain the reasons surrounding her expulsion.

            The charmeleon looked down at the ground angrily, folding his arms across his chest. "Serves the polywhirl right for letting itself be pushed around by a human." Then a flicker of realization and understanding flashed across his orange face. "But she stood up for it," he said to himself. The he looked up at Erin, briefly meeting her eyes. "I have to go," he said, and then dashed into the forest.

            "Wait!" Erin called after him. "Do you have to leave now?" But it was useless; the charmeleon was already lost in the underbrush. She sighed and looked in the last spot she had seen him, as if watching it would make the charmeleon appear once more. "Won't I see any pokemon for longer than a minute?" At this Erin retraced her steps back to the trail and continued on to where she hoped would be a town.

^_^   a/n – I hope everyone likes the story so far. Sorry that the first two chapters were so short: I was getting everything sorted out. I don't know if I need a disclaimer or not, but so many other authors do, I might as well. I do not own Pokemon…duh. I hope that much was obvious. Erin and Professor Chronal are mine though: I made them up on the spot, so no touchie. They be mine. 

I think that's all. The story will get more interesting as the plot progresses; don't worry. I was just so sick of all the same kind of stories that I decided to do something about it: I wrote one of my own! All right, carry on and do whatever. 


	4. Old City Escape

            The rest of that day and throughout the night had come to pass with nothing out of the ordinary or exciting happening. Erin was beginning to wonder if anything interesting would ever happen again, but guessed that there would be things worth seeing once she got into town. The forest she left the day before had not sprouted again, but continued on as rock and dirt with the occasional thistle-like plant dotting the path. When she breached the top of the next hill, she saw the city. Flourishing though it was in the center with every kind of modern technology imaginable, the outskirts were the slums. As she came upon the base of the city, it appeared as thought the outward most buildings and homes hadn't been lived in for years. On closer inspection however, Erin could tell that the homes were lived in, just not by the most friendly of people. It seemed as though the government had at one point begun the task of rebuilding the rundown ancient structures, but for some reason or another abandoned the project. She felt it best to hurry on through to the main city as quickly as possible.

            Luck was not with her on this area, for when she was near the end of the Old City two guys and a girl, all who looked around twenty years old, appeared from the alley ways on either side of her and barred her passing. The girl had the brightest pink hair that Erin had ever seen, and if her clothes where any tighter, Erin guessed she would have not been able to breathe. The guys as well had strangely colored hair and clothing, though thankfully not as tight.

            "Well, what have we here, boys?" said the girl in an exceedingly high-pitched voice with an annoying accent that sounded fake. "Looks like a stray. Do you need help finding your way home little girl?" The men behind her laughed at this, at if it were the funniest thing they had ever heard.

            "I know exactly where I'm going," Erin lied.

            One of the guys stepped forward. "I think this punk needs to learn her manners. When someone offers to help you, it's nice to say thank you."

            Erin knew she shouldn't make matters worse, but these punks were getting on her nerves. "It's a wonder any of you know the meaning of manners with Pinky here trying to show off what she doesn't have," she said, jerking her head in the girl's direction when she referred to her as Pinky.

            Pinky's mouth dropped open and then snapped shut as her eyes squinted in anger and her face came close to the color of her hair. "Why you little bi-" she said, lunging for Erin. She never got any farther that that because at that moment Erin jumped up and landed on the girl's head, using her as a spring-board as she jumped again, knocking Pinky's face down in the dirt with a thud. This made the guys mad and both of them came for Erin as well. 

            "Crap," she said under her breath, readying herself for a fight. One guy took a swing at her, but was so big and slow that Erin had no trouble dodging and kicking him in the stomach, making him back step a few paces. In her elation at a direct hit she almost forgot about the other guy as he swung at her face. Although she finally saw his fist flying and dodged, it was slightly delayed and the guy made fair contact. It was stinging terribly and would most likely leave a small bruise. 

            "All's fair in war, right?" she said as she blocked the same man's kick and made one of her own with full force right into the man's groin. His face scrunched up in pain as he fell to the ground, down for the count. By this time the other guy was back and Pinky was up, thought her face was covered in dirt and her pride had been mortally wounded. Both reached for Erin at the same time, backing her up into a corner. "Great," she said to herself. "I should have just run when I got the chance. How am I going to explain my bruises to the professor when I call?"

            Just then Erin saw a streak of orange flash across her vision as the man fell to the ground with a yell. The pink-haired freak didn't seem to notice, but continued to advance on Erin. Eager to see what had become of the man, Erin quickly jabbed with one arm and thrust forward with the other, knocking the girl into a wall.

            "Run!" the man was now screaming, pulling himself off the ground severely scratched and bleeding. "She's got a pokemon!"

            "What?" said Erin as the guy ran away and the one man she had kicked got to his feet and helped Pinky stand up to run. She looked around and saw the same charmeleon from the day before standing nearby looking quite smug with himself. 

            "What the-" stuttered Erin as she started, surprised to see him again. "When did you get here?"

            "I've been following you since yesterday," the charmeleon replied coolly.

            Erin was confused at this. "But…why?"

            The charmeleon looked up at Erin with a serious look on his face. "I was brought up to think that no human had ever cared for a pokemon, that they only used them for slaves in battles. Yesterday you said that you had to leave your whole life behind because you helped a pokemon. This conflicted with all my beliefs. I followed you to see if you were telling the truth. You can fight well." It appeared as though he was changing the subject as he looked down, but he carried on again. "You said you could fight well, so you told the truth on that point. I suppose that I can believe you on the other subjects as well." Then he looked back at Erin with a longing in his eyes. "Can I ask you a favor?"

            Erin had not expected this, and was curious as to what she could do for the charmeleon. "Sure."

            "I know that I'm strong, but I don't think that staying where I am will make me any stronger." He seemed to have trouble continuing, as if he was nervous. "I- well, um. I know that you're not a pokemon trainer, but would you consider allowing me to travel with you?" When Erin didn't answer for a while, he glanced back up at her only to be shocked to see her crying. "I-I'm sorry that I was mean to you yesterday i-if that's the reason. Y-you can just say no and I'll leave, you don-"

            "You don't know how much I would love for you to come with me," Erin interrupted him, wiping her eyes. 

            "Uh, ok," the charmeleon said, attempting to regain his composure. He began to walk toward the Main City and spoke again, his voice once more slick and smooth. "Fine, well, I don't want you to get the idea that I'm your pokemon, because I'm not. I'm just traveling you so I can grow stronger and maybe evolve." Erin followed behind, simply elated and readily agreeing to everything the charmeleon was saying. "Traveling with a human means that I'll get to fight in more battles than if I stayed where I was. I'll fight in gym battles for you if you want, but only for the experience. Remember, none of this is for you, I'm coming along so I can learn to fight better."

            They reached the Main City and immediately the atmosphere changed drastically. Whereas before it seemed as though the very clouds were closing in on them, making their surroundings as bleak as possible, now the town was a bustle of life: bright and friendly. "I was going to find a hotel here," said Erin as she tried to take in all the sites at once. "That would have used up most of my money, but since you're here now, we could go to the Pokecenter and get a boarding and meals for free. Only trainers can stay there. That is, if you pretend to be my pokemon for one night."

            Charmeleon looked at Erin out of the corner of his eyes. "All right," he agreed. "For one night, but we're not going to make a habit out of it." 


	5. Pokecenter Tragedy

"Yes ma'am," said Erin as the nurse in charge of the Pokecenter handed her the key to her room. "And thank you."

            "Oh, you're welcome sweetie," the nurse replied. She was a short plump lady who couldn't help but be friendly to a customer. "I hope you and your pokemon have a nice stay."

            "I'm sure we will," said Erin, trying to end the conversation and get away from all the sickening kindness. She hurried away and back to the seats in the lobby to find Charmeleon searching through her bad, taking out her meager possessions and setting them down carelessly. "Hey!" she yelled at him. "What do you think you are doing?"

            Charmeleon looked up at her innocently. "I just wanted to see what humans keep in these things. Every time I would see a human walking down a path, they would have some variation of this thing on their back, and I wanted to know what was so important that they had to carry it with them all the time." He looked back at in the bag, moving it to see if he had missed anything inside. "But now I see that, besides the food, there's nothing of worth in here."

            "Hey!"

            "Well it's true. And what's this thing?" he asked, picking the pokedex up from underneath a blanket.

            Erin quickly moved to conceal it from anyone who might be looking, even though they were the only ones in there at the time. "Don't play with that! It's not a toy." She delicately placed it back in her bag and then began to refold the blanket and other clothes that were now strung about the nearby chairs. "I have to go call the Professor now, and I don't want you going through my things again."

            "But what is it?" Charmeleon asked, getting up to follow her.

            "I'll tell you later. Hey, I want to surprise the Prof, so don't appear on screen until I tell you, alright?"

            "Fine, whatever," he replied indifferently, continuing to poke around the room.

            Erin dialed the numbers to Professor Chronal's laboratory and waited for him to pick up. His face appeared on the vid-screen a few seconds later and his mouth broke into a smile. "Oh, hello Erin! I trust you found your way to the city ok. Well, since you're talking to me, I guess you would've had to, right?" He made himself chuckle by saying this. "How was your journey?"

            "It was easy sailing, at least until I got into town," Erin said, remembering the fight she had just a few hours before.

            "Humph, I see," said Chronal, understanding once he saw the small bruise on Erin's cheek. "What city are you in?"

            "I'm not sure, there aren't any signs anywhere, and I haven't cared enough to ask anyone. But that's not why I called you anyway. A few hours down the path yesterday, I saw a pair of manky cubs!"

             "Really?" asked Chronal, excited. "Real wild Pokemon! Are you sure?"

            "Of course I'm sure," replied Erin. "They were about this big," she said, indicating with her hands their size. "And were a dusty brown color. Everything was just like the pictures I've seen and disc-videos that they make us watch in class. They hopped away when they realized that I had seen them though."

            "Erin, that's amazing!" said the Professor, ecstatic. "I would have loved to be there to have seen them. I would've liked to know right away. Why didn't you just call me using the call-feature on the pokedex?"

            "The what feature?" asked Erin. But just then the voice of Charmeleon called out from near the chairs.

            "I didn't do it!"

            Professor Chronal looked confused and Erin glanced over in the Char's direction to see him with the pokedex open in his hand, with a vid-screen not unlike the one Erin was using to talk to the Professor out that he had activated. He was now pressing all the buttons frantically with the free hand attempting to shut it. He glanced at Erin. "I didn't do it!" he repeated.

            Erin yelled back, not really angry, just frustrated. "Charmeleon! What do you mean you didn't do it? I'm sitting here watching you!" She stood up and hurried over to him. "I thought I told you not to touch it!"

            "Well of course that was going to make me want to touch it more! Don't you know anything?" Charmeleon yelled back, still pressing every button on the pokedex while Erin tried to take it away from him.

            Professor Chronal, who could hear everything but was unable see it, was extremely confused. "A charmeleon?" 

            He might as well have just been talking to a wall, because Erin and Charmeleon were too wrapped up in their own argument that soon resorted to pushing and shoving to hear anything he was saying.

            "Give it back!" Erin was saying, attempting to pull the pokedex from Charmeleon's claws. "The professor gave it to ME!"

            "You still haven't told me what it is!" Charmeleon argued. "I want to know! Wait," he said, suddenly still and sniffing the air. "Do you smell something?"

            Erin too, sniffed the air and then glanced at the wooden table that was nearby and jumped back with a shout. Charmeleon's tail had come too close to it for too long and it had caught on fire. "Put it out put it out put it out!!!" she screamed. 

            "I'm trying!" said Charmeleon, batting the flames with his hands.

            Erin stuffed the pokedex back into her bag and brought out the blanket. She began waving it over the fire that had begun to spread to the chairs, attempting to snuff it out.

            The professor was still confused. "Erin? Erin are you still here? Erin are you all ri-AAHHH! Is that fire?" This was all he able to say before the heat from the flames melted to power-strip to the vid-screens and his screen went blank.

            When Erin and Charmeleon combined their efforts, they were soon able to put out the fire, although they were powerless to save the table, a number chairs, and the power to the vid-screens. Charmeleon shrugged and gave Erin a sheepish grin while she shot him a death-glare fit to kill. Charmeleon then glanced behind them and blanched, all traced of his former grin now gone. Erin turned as well and what she saw froze her heart. The kindly nurse from the desk was standing there, her attitude drastically changed. Her hair was tossed about in anger; her near-white face was now blood red, and she was foaming at the mouth. As one, both Erin and Charmeleon pointed at the other accusingly.

            "GET… OUT!" is all she said in a deep roar-like tone. It was all that was required of her, as they were out the door in a flash, Erin stuffing the remainder of her belongings into her bag as she ran.

            When they thought they were a safe distance away from the Pokecenter to stop running and take a breath, Erin glared once more at Charmeleon. "I told you not to touch it."

            "Oh, so now it's my fault, is it?" he said defensively.

            "Of course it's your fault," snapped Erin. "Who else has a flame on the end of their tail?" She sighed. "Let's go and find a hotel now. You owe me for my blanket, by the way," she said as she stood up and began to walk down the street. Her blanket had sacrificed its life in the attempt to put out the fire.

            "The table wouldn't have caught on fire if you hadn't tried to take that thing from me."

            "You weren't supposed to have it in the first place!" Erin yelled at him, frantic.

            "You could have asked nicely!" he yelled back, their argument starting up once more

.

            Amazing how much alike the two were… 


	6. Friendship Breached

Erin threw herself on the bed in the room at a worn-down hotel she had managed to find for cheap. At the Pokecenter she had bought traveling food with most of her extra money, expecting not to have to pay for a room, so she had to take what she could get.

            Erin sighed, looking up at the spotted ceiling. "This has been the most hectic day of my life."

            "Yeah, mine too. It's never dull when I'm around you, human," Charmeleon answered, even though she didn't want a reply.

            She sat up and looked at him with disbelief. "Dull around me? You're the one who-. Oh, never mind; I don't feel like getting into that again. By the way, you could call me by my name."

            Charmeleon continued to search every nook and cranny in the small room. "Well, you never told it to me, did you?" Putting his search on hold for the time being, he looked up at Erin with the most piercing blue eyes that she had ever seen. Why hadn't she noticed them before? 

When neither spoke for a period of time he said, "I'm waiting for you to tell me your name. That is, unless you don't care to tell me and simply want to be called 'human' like you call me 'charmeleon.' But then if that's fine with you then it's fine with me," he continued, sitting down on the bed with indifference toward the subject since Erin still hadn't said anything.

"I didn't know that you had a name."

"You didn't bother to ask, now did you?" the charmeleon replied, not making eye contact.

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right. Most humans don't think about that sort of thing, they simply assume that all we are is an animal or a slave to do their bidding and fight their battles. They don't stop to think that we think too." After another prolonged silence he said, "I'm still waiting."

"Right, sorry, again." Erin felt slightly foolish and wasn't sure why. "My name's Erin." Then, attempting to lighten to mood slightly, "Now, Almighty Beast of Flame, what might I refer to you as?"

Childish though it was, Erin's remark did make the atmosphere a little friendlier. "Abadon. My name is Abadon." He said no more.

"Abadon? That's interesting. Does it mean anything?"

"Does Erin mean anything?"

"Well, no, not really," she said sheepishly.

"There you have it then. I-"  
"Oh my gosh!" yelled Erin suddenly. "I forgot about the Professor! I was talking to him when the Pokecenter caught on fire!"

"I thought we were over the blaming on that subject!"

"Oh you hush. I wasn't blaming anyone, I just need to call Professor Chronal." She brought out her pokedex and pressed the button to activate and open it. "What did you press to get the vid-screen?" Erin asked Abadon.

He walked over to her side of the bed to have a look at the myriad of colored buttons on the pokedex. "That one," he said, pointing with his claw to a round green one on the left.

Erin pressed it and the computer screen that was there shifted and became surrounded in static for a few seconds and she had thought Abadon had made a mistake. "What did- oh." The screen in front of her was now that of a vid-screen. The keyboard too, looked slightly different, now containing the numbers required to dial and buttons such as 'call' and 'end.' She dialed the number to the professor's lab and waited as the phone rang on the other end.

A frantic Professor Chronal answered. His hair didn't appear to have been combed in weeks, when it had looked fine that afternoon. "Erin? Oh my god, I'm so glad you're all right. I was so frightened that you had been injured in the fire. And then you didn't call back…"

"It's all right, Professor," Erin said, trying to calm him down but appreciative that he had worried about her. No one else would have cared for her well-being. "I wasn't hurt in the fire, and it never got very big to begin with." 

Easily sedated when he realized that a threat was over or a problem had been solved, Chronal quickly returned to their previous conversation that had been cut short in the Pokecenter. "Did I hear you yell 'Charmeleon' earlier?" he asked, his information-gathering mind at once curious.

"Oh, you heard that? Darn," said Erin, slightly disappointed. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

"You have a charmeleon with you!?!" he yelled, wanting to know everything surrounding the subject at once: where had she found it; were there any more; how was she able to get it to come with her when she didn't have any pokeballs; how well-behaved was it; was it the least bit intelligent?

Erin could tell that Abadon was starting to become offended by the professor's questions, so Erin quickly halted his flow and began to tell him the story of how they had met in the forest and then met again in the Old City. She briefly explained the circumstances surrounding the Pokecenter. "And yes, he is extremely intelligent," she added at the end. "Come here, Abadon."

"Abadon? Who's Abadon?"

"The charmeleon is Abadon. That's his name."

"Oh, my gosh: a real living charmeleon. I was certain that they had all become extinct." Chronal continued to stare as Abadon came into view on the screen, which made him greatly uncomfortable. "Now, how intelligent did you say it was?" he asked Erin, though still looking at Abadon.

"I have enough brains to know what's going on and I don't appreciate being treated like an inferior just because I don't wear clothes." Said Abadon, looking at Chronal full in the face.

The professor was slightly taken aback by the charmeleon's gaze and stuttered when he tried to speak again. "I-I d-didn't catch all that Erin. Did you understand it? I only caught a few words."

Erin smirked at her absent-minded friend. "I think you need to go back high school and retake the Pokemon-Speech class. Abadon said that he's just as intelligent as you or me and that he doesn't appreciate it when you treat him like he's not. Also, he's a 'he,' not an 'it.'"

"Oh, well, yes, thank you Erin. And, Mr. Abadon, I'm truly sorry if I have offended you. Let me know if there's anything I can do to make it up to you."

Abadon replied to him and Chronal looked toward Erin helplessly for a translation.

"He said that he wants you to treat him like you would anyone else. He doesn't like being called Mr. anything," she answered with a snicker. Abadon, however, didn't think it was so funny. He was about to say something else when the Professor shouted something about chemicals he was supposed to be watching and ran away, not even signing off. Right before Erin turned off her vid-screen, she noticed the appearance of smoke from the direction in which the professor took off. "That Professor…" she said, setting down the pokedex once more and situating herself to a more comfortable position on the bed.

"Why did he keep asking about my intelligence and talk to me like I'm an inferior?" asked Abadon with an extremely thoughtful look on his face. 

Erin looked up at him and once again noticed how exceptionally blue his eyes were. Strange how a fire pokemon would have eyes the color of the ocean. "It's partially the humans' fault, I guess. Actually, it's all the humans' fault," she corrected herself. "Since we understood that the pokemon population was depleting, scientists began to breed them in laboratories. Take the poliwag," she said, thinking back to her school. "Every lab has somewhere from three to five different DNA codes of a poliwag. Then they clone those codes to make more poliwag."

"Wait," interrupted Abadon. "So all the pokemon that humans get at their schools are just clones of each other?"

"More or less. But it still depends on the trainer to bring out that pokemon's full potential. If a person is an inadequate trainer, then it's not the pokemon's fault if they're not a good battler."

"What does all this have to do with my question?" the charmeleon wanted to know.

"I'm getting to that," Erin replied. "Those same genetic codes have been cloned so many times over and over again that they're not as strong as they used to be. They're not as smart either. That's the sad thing: people began to clone pokemon to save them, but in the end all they're doing is killing them."  Erin lay back on the bed and returned to staring at the ceiling. "In school, they teach us the pokemon language so we can communicate with our pokemon when we get one, but they teach us the old language: the one the pokemon spoke over two hundred years ago; the one that the wild pokemon still speak. The pokemon bread in the labs aren't as intelligent as the wild ones who haven't been cloned for centuries. Most of them need a human trainer to tell them what to do. They can barely think for themselves. So naturally, their vocabulary isn't near as vast as that of a wild pokemon. And yet, they still teach us the whole language. Teachers and scientists are still living in the past, thinking everything is still as it once was," she finished with a sigh. "I'm not even supposed to know all that. And I wouldn't, if I hadn't badgered the Prof for information."  

Abadon leaned against the bed. "Is that what your friend does, Professor Chronal? Does he breed inadequate pokemon?" he said with distaste.

"No. He works with chemicals and computers and stuff. A breeding scientist wouldn't have been able to recreate a pokedex."

Abadon then climbed in the bed next to her. "I'm going to go to sleep now, can you turn off the light?"

"Aren't you scared that your flame will catch the bed on fire?" Erin asked with slight disease. 

"No," he replied. "Usually it's not even hot; only when I'm angry or when I'm battling will it ever burn anything. Here, feel," he said, bringing up his tail to Erin's hand.

She hesitated. "Are you sure, because it still looks hot."  
"I'm sure, just put your hand in."

Erin closed her eyes real tight and brushed her hand through quickly. Her hand didn't hurt, so she opened her eyes and did it again, this time slower. She smiled. "It really doesn't hurt," she said, flipping her hand around while leaving it in the flame. "It almost feels cold. How can a flame be cold?"

Abadon shrugged and lie back down. "Who knows? But us Chars don't question it, we just accept it. Night."

Erin smiled and turned off the light to the room. "Good night."


	7. Battle

Erin was walking at a leisurely pace throughout the town the next morning. It was a beautiful day. The sun was out but not too bright or hot, the sky was blue, and there was a lovely breeze. She was almost near the edge of town and would soon be traveling through a forest again. The Old City did not exist on this side of town, so she should have no trouble passing the border. Abadon was walking a ways behind her, always curious; he was looking in windows and searching through anything that seemed remotely interesting. A number of times he had been chased away by an angry person yelling threats in his direction.

            As she came to the edge, Erin slowed down and took notice of a patch of dirt that had gathered a minute crowd of people slightly older than her. She made her way across the street to see what was going on. It was a pokemon battle! It appeared as though it had already ended though, she thought, disappointed. Erin made her way around the circle and asked someone what was going on.

            "You see him?" the man asked, pointing to a kid a few years older that her that had a geodude sitting close by. The kid was sitting by a tree stump that had some money on it. "That kid made a proposition to anyone that wanted to battle his geodude. He said that all a person would have to do would be to pay five dollars and they could fight. If they lost, then the five dollars stayed on that tree stump, but if they won, then that person could take all the money. No one's beaten him yet." The man then forgot about Erin's existence and went back to looking around the lot.

            "Wow, I sure could use that money," thought Erin. All she had was six dollars.

            "Isn't there anyone left in this city who would be willing to hand us a measly five dollars in hopes of gaining all this cash?" the kid was yelling to the crowd. He seemed to be full of himself and thoroughly enjoying himself. He continued to shout threats of the same sort as Erin left the crowd of people who had congregated around the small clearing and went in search of Abadon.

            She jogged past a few homes and stores, glancing right and left for any sign of his orange hide. She finally spotted him running out of an alley away from a frustrated man in an apron.

            "What were you doing?" she asked him.

            "I found a bakery and wanted to know if they gave out any free samples," he answered with a laugh. "I'm hungry."

            Erin pulled a travel bar out of her pack and handed it to him. " I don't have enough money to buy anything after we finish this, but I think I know how we can get some," she said, glimpsing back to the direction of the fight. "Would you be willing to battle now?"

                "What?" the question was so sudden he had to have time to think.

"Do you want to battle, yes or no?"

"Well, yeah," he replied. "But where?"

"Come on," Erin said, grabbing Abadon's hand and pulling him in the direction of the dirt filled lot. "I'll explain it on the way."

They reached the crowd of people once more and that same kid was still spouting off about how strong his geodude was and how he couldn't be beaten.

"We'll fight you!" yelled Erin to him, startling the people around her as she and Abadon ran into the center of the lot facing their opponent. The crowd began to murmur among themselves.

The guy stood up and looked with distain at Erin. "Humph," he said. "A charmeleon. At least you might give me somewhat of a fight before you loose." Then he noticed the black marks on Abadon's back and scoffed. "Ha!" he laughed. "Your pokemon appears to be in poor health. Pity."

"Here's your five dollars," Erin said, shoving it in his face and turning back to Abadon. "Don't trip over your moving rock." She really shouldn't have said that about the geodude, because it wasn't his fault that he had a stuck up trainer. Oh well. "Abadon," she said, giving him a slight push of confidence. "Remember, that geodude is a lab clone and isn't as strong as you. Plus, he hasn't evolved yet and you have. But that's no reason to get cocky and over confidant; you always have to be on the defensive, even when attacking." She gave him on final push. "No go and fight your best!"

"Wow," thought Abadon. "She certainly has the basics down. I've never fought a rock type before, so I'll have to trust her."

"All right, Geodude!" yelled Erin's opponent. "Let's show this little girl what you can do! Head Butt!" His geodude threw himself at Abadon, preparing to make contact with the charmeleon's chest. But, a geodude, being made of rock, was not made for speed and Abadon was able to easily dodge.

"A head butt?" thought Erin, surprised. "This guy's nothing more than an armature. You don't start off with an attack like that with an opponent you've never fought. A trainer should begin with more defensive moves before they are able to decipher their opponent's strategy and use more advanced attacks." Much of Erin's skill and knowledge of fighting did not come from her classes at the academy, but rather actual fighting with the other students in training courses. 

Erin's knowledge on pokemon however, did come from a classroom. The geodude and its evolutions take advantage of their hard, rock-like skin and heavy weight to overcome their opponent with strength. But their mass weighs them down severely and limits their speed. Erin and Abadon had the advantage in this area, and were more than willing to take advantage of that fact.

"Well, sometimes the best maneuvers are the simplest ones. Abadon! Agility! Don't let the geodude know where you are!"

"Right!" he replied before suddenly becoming a blur and darting quickly all over the field. He dashed closer and closer to the geodude and was soon circling him so fast that there was no way he would be able to touch the Char. The geodude was becoming dizzy trying to figure out where Abadon was and would soon collapse.

His trainer was noticing this and yelled, "Geodude, get a hold on yourself and do a Pound Attack!" Geodude stopped trying to keep an eye on Abadon and clenched his fists, raising them over his head about to pound the ground to make a crevice that would slow down the speedy charmeleon. 

As he brought down his fists and made contact, Erin called out, "Flamethrower, hurry!" and immediately wished she hadn't, knowing how high a level Abadon would have to be at in order to use an attack of that magnitude. An instant later however, she was just as amazed as the rest of the crowd as, at the same time, giant chunks of rock and asphalt flew in every direction and a enormous pillar of flame erupted from the mouth of Abadon and people screamed and ducked, hoping that a rock would not collide with them and they would not become singed from the flame. Looking up a few seconds later, it was impossible to see the outcome of the match due to the amount of dust and smoke that had accumulated. 

When the smoke cleared and the dust began to die down, the geodude was found immobile in the crevice of his creation, but the charmeleon still able to stand, though breathing hard and slightly woozy. 

Erin simply stood in silence, amazed at what had just taken place.

"Hey!" someone from the crowd called out. "The girl won! Her charmeleon beat the geodude!" This jolted Erin and the other onlookers out of their daze and the crowd began to holler and applaud Erin at her victory.

"We won?" she asked. "We won!" she said again, only as a statement instead of a question. "Abadon!" Erin yelled, running over to him and giving him a hug. "We won! You did awesome!"

"Hey," he said slowly. "We did win. I beat the geodude. All right!" he yelled, jumping in the air and giving a shout.

"Erin walked over to the geodude's owner looked him full in the face. "My charmeleon and I have defeated you and your geodude. And I believe the terms of agreement were that I now own this money?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

The kid looked like he was about to open his mouth to argue, but then glanced past Erin to the crowd who was watching and changed his mind. "Fine," he said reluctantly, walking over and picking up his geodude. "Take it." He didn't take any more notice of her, but simply stood up and walked away.

Erin watched him leave. "Sheesh, talk about sore looser." Then she turned back to Abadon and became excited again. "We won! We really won!"

He tried to calm her down. "Hey, settle down, would you?"

"But it was my first pokemon battle, and I won. I can't believe it."

"Get used to it; I was the one doing the fighting after all. You shouldn't have expected anything else," he said, trying to pass it off as nothing. "And besides, you're embarrassing me."

Erin stopped yelling and calmed down, even if it were just for Abadon's sake. She bent down and counted the money as she folded it and put it in her bag. "Thirty-five dollars. Not a bad haul," she said to Abadon as she stood up and slung the bag over shoulder. She looked around the lot and noticed that most of the people had dispersed. The fight was over there was nothing left to see. Erin continued walking in the direction that she had been headed before the battle: the direction that would lead her out of town and back into the surrounding forest. "I could get used to this life. What about you, Abadon?"

"It wouldn't be too bad," he replied indifferently.

They wandered past an old antique store on the side of the road and Erin glanced in the window. "Oh, wow, come look at this Abadon. It's an old TV. I didn't know they still had these around; it's like a box with a screen. How odd. It still works though." The news was playing on the ancient TV and Erin stopped to watch for a while.

A lady with large brown hair was sitting at a desk, scenes with explosions and destruction behind her. "The war between the neighboring countries of Jhoto and Kanto is only becoming worse. It is spreading into Honen territory and it appears as though that country as well will soon be joining the war. I can only hope that our country does not become involved in what appears to be a full-blown world war." The screen behind her became black as a single light remained on the announcer. "This is Katie Klarus, signing off. Have a good afternoon." Cut to commercials.

Erin walked away, still excited about their match, but the level of elation had clearly dropped as she became lost in her thoughts. Abadon followed close behind. He hadn't paid close attention to what had been on that old television and wondered in the back of his mind why Erin was suddenly silent.  


	8. Darkness Attacks

Erin and Abadon made their way along the edge of the forest, headed to the next town. On their right was a dying field that must have at one point been beautiful, filled with pokemon like ratata, pidgey and zigzigoon, with the occasional taillow, seedot, and ledyba.  Now, as Erin looked across the once green land, she saw nothing but the dying, wilting grass. Pokemon no longer cared to live in a dying world; they have left the land that humans have forgotten. They go now to places that humans, in their quest to discover and conquer, have overlooked or discarded. These are the only sanctuaries left for them.

Erin sighed and continued walking.

"What was all that stuff on the news back in the city?"

"About the war?" she asked, glancing back to the charmeleon. "My home town is on Cinnibar Island, in the country of Kanto. Right now Kanto is going to war with Jhoto. I don't know why; nothing seemed to be wrong between the two. But now it seems that Honen will get involved, and most likely this country will be caught up in it as well. And still the failing government won't tell us why. It's simply: sign up and defend your country! Yeah right."

            "How come you aren't in your country? I'd think that you would have gone to school there instead of all the way out here."

            "Humph," Erin snorted. "As bad as things are here, they're ten times worse back home. My family doesn't care about me. They only let me study so far away so I would be out of their hair. My dad will be furious when he finds out that I've been expelled. Only one more reason not to return."

            Abadon fell silent in thought, but suddenly his stomach growled. He looked up with a smile on his face. "Can we stop and eat?"

            Erin laughed and was glad for the lightening of the mood. "You never stop eating, do you? Come on, we can go into to forest and look for a spot to rest for a while: we have been walking all morning, and you just recently battled."

The two of them made their way into the forest, which, like the field, was dying. The trees here were not sparse however, but they were old and grayish in color, while most of their leaves had fallen off, never to return. "This spot looks as good as any," Erin commented, looking around absentmindedly as she sat on the dry cracked ground.

"Yeah, sure," said Abadon, eager to eat. "What do we have?"

Erin took off her pack and searched through its contents. She brought out some dried meat and granola bars, handing some of each to Abadon, who looked on with a disappointed face.

"Is this all? This isn't food. Well, this kind of is," he said, shaking the meat, "but only kind of."

"It's fine. It may not taste all that great, but the bars are packed with vitamins and protein. Everything you need. If you don't like it then hunt for yourself like you did before you decided to follow me."

Abadon pouted and took a bite of the meat. "There's nothing to hunt in this dead forest. 'Cept maybe leaves, and they might taste better than this." Then his head shot up as he glanced quickly all around him.

"What's wrong?" asked Erin.

"Something's coming," he whispered

"What?"

But Abadon didn't have time to answer, because then an eerie voice, angry and wailing, was heard seemingly from everywhere at once. "Putrid being!" it screamed. "How dare you come here! How dare you enter this forest!" A small black shadow darted over the duo's makeshift camp, moving so fast that neither was able to lock on to it.

"Abadon! What is it?"

"I don't know, I can't tell."

"Filthy human!" the shadow wailed, then ramming itself into Erin stomach, knocking the breath out of her as she fell to the ground gasping.

In the split second that the shadow halted to recover its balance, Abadon spotted it. The next second it was a blur again. "And you!" it began again, "You repugnant excuse for a pokemon! Taking orders from one of them! You deserve to die as well you disgusting lab breed!"

Abadon ran over to protect Erin. "Stop! Don't attack her! What did Erin ever do to you? Erin," he said, talking softly to her but trying to keep his eyes on the quickly moving shadow. "It's an umbreon. I saw it after it ran into you. I think it's female." 

"Oh, so you're not a lab breed," the umbreon said, stopping on a tree branch to look at the two more clearly. "That's even worse. How could an intelligent being like yourself follow one that destroys the earth?" She jumped quickly, and before Abadon had time to react, she had knocked him into a nearby tree. 

"Abadon! No!" yelled Erin in worry.

Abadon stood up shakily. "I'm ok, don't get upset."

"You won't be for long." But Abadon had seen that the umbreon attacked her opponent's torso with a fast and powerful body slam and fixed his eyes to see her coming. 

"There, from the left," he thought as he turned just in time to bring his clawed fist down on the umbreon's back at the same instant she slammed into him once more. They both went flying and stood up with strained effort facing each other with mutual hatred. 

"Abadon! It's ok, I'm all right!"

"No! This umbreon wants to kill you and you haven't done anything to her!"

"It's her kind!" The umbreon yelled. "Her kind are killing this land. They are killing everything and no one has tried to stop them. I'm not going to let her live!" She made another leap for Erin.

"No!" cried Abadon, grabbing her ringed tail to hold her back and then threw her the opposite direction against a tree with a thud. "I won't let you hurt her!"

"Abadon..." whispered Erin under her breath, fearful for his life.

The umbreon stood up glared at Abadon with such malice that it flowed through her very being. A dark energy appeared to be eradiating from her fur. "I will not be deterred from my task!" she screamed as she leapt for Erin, attempting to pass the stubborn charmeleon. She was not expecting Abadon to grab her in mid-leap. "What! How were you able to see where I was going to move?"

Abadon scoffed. "That black aura you're emitting leaves a trail. You were easy to track."

"Impossible! Only dark types are able to see the dark aura."

"Doesn't seem that way any more, does it?"

The umbreon screamed her hatred. "You will pay for your treachery!" The black energy that had accumulated around her began to grow and spread, becoming larger and beginning to surround Abadon as well. "Let me go so I can kill the human, or you will die as well!"

"Never!" yelled Abadon. In his fury and attempts to hang on to the umbreon, his eyes began to glow in anger. The flame on his tail was growing, and the fire was spreading to consume his whole body.

"Stop it! You'll kill yourself!" hollered Erin. "Please!"

But Abadon was past the point of hearing. His whole body was covered in bright tongues of fire, growing larger by the second. The umbreon had not relented in the sickening darkness that she had unleashed. It did not matter that the fire, too, was consuming her. As long as the charmeleon was going to die from her darkness and she killed the worthless human, her life did not matter. Abadon screamed from the pressure of the surrounding void, the umbreon screamed from the intensity of the flames, and Erin screamed because she thought she would loose Abadon to the psychotic umbreon.

There was a blinding flash... and then nothing.  


	9. Of Char and Chasm

A bright light, swirling 'round: it consumed all that was in sight. It is a fire: the fire of life. It has a warming touch; doesn't burn, simply strengthens. Rising up and flowing out. Bringing with it chaos and order alike, for how would one know it existed without the other? The chaos burning and destroying; the order calming and creating. But where is the one to whom the fire obeys? The one to whom is granted the ability to not only control the burning hatred, but also the calming warmth. A light that burns the eyes and yet calms the soul is seen, surrounding and engulfing. What is this light, this all consuming flame? Then he understands. It is the fires of birth, from which all things are created, and all things destroyed. Breathing the flames, there is no need for air: the fire itself sustains the life of those it chooses. 

_*~*~*~*_

Abadon blinked and focused on what was around him. It should have been difficult to see, for the day had long ago turned to night, but his vision was clearer than. He was lying on the ground, dead leaves scattered around him and cool cracked dirt underneath his head. It felt good. He tried to remember what the circumstances were that led up to him being there. How did he come to be on the ground? The last thing he knew, he had been fighting that crazy umbreon. Oh my gosh! How am I still alive after what happened.

Abadon tried to sit up faster than he should have and soon regretted it when he began to black out once more.

            "Easy," came a soothing voice next to him. He felt a warm hand on his forehead. "That's good. Your fever has gone down. Before I barely touch you without getting burned."

            "Erin, is that you?" asked Abadon once he was able to see clearly again. He turned his head and saw her smiling face looking at him with pride. She seemed slightly smaller than before.

            "You saved my life. You were extremely brave. Thank you."

            "How am I still alive? I thought for sure that I would have died."

            "Sit up and you'll see. Slowly," Erin added when Abadon began to sit up too fast again. "There you go."

            Something was wrong. Everything looked different. It wasn't the land or the trees; it was to way that Abadon perceived it. The ground was much farther down than it should have been. Maybe he really was dead. "What happened?" he asked, worried. "What's wrong?" He glanced at Erin, who was also farther down than she should have been.

            "Nothing's wrong, look behind you."

            He did as he was told and gasped. Abadon was sure that his heart had stopped beating, and that if he wasn't dead already, he certainly was now. He looked back at Erin. "I… have wings."

            Erin smiled and nodded.

            "That means I… evolved?"

            "Yes!" Erin almost squealed as she leaned over and hugged the new charizard with pride. "You risked your life to save mine, and in return you evolved!"

            Abadon was stunned. He attempted to speak a number of times, but words never escaped his mouth. That was when he noticed the umbreon laying a few feet away on the other side of Erin. "What is she doing there?" he asked sullenly.

            "The umbreon? I couldn't just let her die, could I?"

            "I would have! Erin, she tried to kill you, and you save her life? Why?"

            Erin watched the umbreon with sorrow. "She was blinded by her anger. Didn't you hear her? She kept yelling about how us humans have destroyed the land. Now, while she may be right about that, we didn't mean for it to turn out that way. I certainly haven't gone out and killed a whole forest." She returned her gaze to Abadon. "She was simply taking too drastic of measures. What she didn't realize was that, by killing humans, she would have been no better off than the humans who killed pokemon. It wouldn't have changed anything. I kind of wish she would come with us."

            Abadon's anger had quieted, and he was beginning to feel stronger. He tried to stand up. "Not now," said Erin. "You can get up tomorrow, but for now you need to stay in bed. Look," she added, pointing to his back. "Your beautiful stripes have become larger."

            She was right. The black stripes that graced the Char's back had grown with him. Now they made their way up his neck and crisscrossed around his eyes and snout, also reaching up with his wings. His eyes dropped. "I wish they hadn't."

"What? Why? They're beautiful. They make you unique and stand out. The thing I always feared most was that I would always be part of the crowd. I hated being normal and continuously thought up things to do at the academy that would make me different. I wasn't seeking attention; I simply didn't want to be like everybody else. That would have been boring. It was mainly just that I didn't dress how everyone else did or acted how the so-called 'in crowd' did."

            Abadon glanced away. "Everyone always told me that the stripes were some kind of mutation and I wasn't fit to be around any of them. That's why I trained so hard, so I could show them that I wasn't any different from them. Funny thing was, that by doing that, I showed them even more that I was different. I had a natural talent for fighting and battling and soon surpassed everybody my age. I even evolved prematurely. Everyone was nervous to be around me. So," Abadon said with a shrug. "I left. I started traveling around to become even stronger. Not too long after that I met you," he said, looking at Erin. He glanced past her to see the umbreon awake and watching the two intently with her shifty red eyes.

Erin turned her head to see what Abadon was looking at. "Oh good, you're awake! …How long have you been up?" she said cautiously. 

"Long enough," the umbreon replied with a voice much calmer and controlled than their earlier encounter. "Tell me," she asked. "Where are you from, trainer?"

"I'm from Cinnibar Island in the country of Kanto. And I'm not a trainer, I was expelled from my school."

The umbreon eyed her coolly. "Island of Fire; how fitting you travel with a Char. Why were you expelled?"

Erin told her the reason she was expelled and the events leading up until she met Abadon. He affirmed everything and added in a few comments himself. "But now I want to know your name," said Erin.

The umbreon looked mildly surprised. "You ask the name of a Pokemon? All others call them by their species, as if they are worthless." She was silent for a moment and then spoke again. "Chasm. That is all. It means void, darkness, destruction, and rift. Fitting, don't you agree?" She asked that question not expecting a reply.

"I think it's a beautiful name," said Erin, replying anyway. "And yes, it does fit."

Out of nowhere, Chasm made a most unusual request. "Tell me your thoughts on pokemon training."

"What?" asked Erin, rather confused.

"Come, you seem a bright child. Prove to me that you are capable as a trustworthy human and answer me."

Erin thought for a while. She believed that this question alone would be the deciding point in earning the trust of the umbreon. What did she believe pokemon training should be about? Is that what her question meant? "Well," she began. "So many trainers look up to Ketchum, who was the youngest Master ever. As a result, they copy his tactics and try and do everything just like he did, thinking that following his lifestyle will make them great as well."

"Where is this leading?" Chasm said sharply.

"I'm getting there, let me finish. The thing is, Ketchum found a thing that worked for him. All people seem to do anymore is follow the rules and regulations of the trainers who were great. But they shouldn't. The ones who were great were only great because they invented new training methods that worked around each of their pokemon. They didn't follow someone else. They may have looked up to someone, but they didn't follow them. And what's more, they worked together with their pokemon; they didn't treat them as a lesser being. This is what I believe Pokemon training should be."

Chasm looked up at the sky that was becoming brighter, her red eyes gleaming. "You are wise beyond your years Erin of Cinnibar. This will be an interesting experience."

"What? You're coming?"

"Of course. I attacked you and yet you healed me. There seem to be many ideas and thoughts in this world that I am not familiar with. This will be a way to discover them."

"No!" Erin was surprised at Abadon's outburst. "No Erin! She tried to kill you yesterday, and now you're letting her come with us? Why?"

"I don't think that she'll try and hurt us again. We can trust her."

"Fine, but I'm keeping an eye on her," Abadon growled reluctantly.

Chasm pulled herself up and stretched. "Well, a new day has dawned. I may be wrong, but isn't this the time of the sun's cycle that your kind travels? Yes? Then we had better be off."


	10. The Forgotten

            Hello all. I'm sorry that I took so long for this chapter to upload, but I haven't been in the country for the past three weeks, and had no access to a computer. I was going through withdrawal. But here it is, for all of those of you who care to read it. I'm having a lot of fun writing this and will keep going. The chapters won't come as often as the first ones did because of school, but I'll get them out eventually.

This human was different. This one doesn't want to kill the earth. Maybe not all of them did. She had killed many humans for her cause, but maybe not all of them deserved it. It didn't matter anyway: they died in the place of the others who would live and deserved to die. But she had thought all humans deserved to die just this morning. Now? Now she wasn't sure. There was much to think about and traveling with this human might help her to understand. The Char is confusing. He said that he did not like humans either until he met this one, and yesterday he risked his life to save her. In doing so he evolved. Strange, his evolution was. Pokemon only evolve if they have become too strong for their present form. At least, that is what she thought. Another belief is questioned. Her secure little world that she had erected around herself was falling apart.

            She looked up at him and studied his face. He was strong, both outwardly and inwardly. She had witnessed his physical strength during their battle the day before. He was a worthy opponent, that he was. But his physical strength was not what she was looking for; his well-muscled body showed that without searching. No, it was the look in his eyes. There was something there that showed confidence and character. He fought for what he believed in. That was just it: what he believed in. She didn't believe in anything but false hopes. He noticed her staring at him unashamedly out of the corner of his eye. 

            "What are you looking at?"

            "Your stripes," the umbreon said.

            The charizard looked forward at the road in front of them and continued to walk. "What about them?"

            "You have no need to be ashamed of them. In fact, it is because of those stripes that you are so strong."

            Abadon stopped walking and studied her. "Explain."

            "Well," Chasm began. She continued on past the Char, not looking at him while she talked. "I have witnessed it on number of occasions, that I have. In this ever-changing world, its inhabitants constantly adapt and change themselves to survive. Most species of pokemon are one element, or if they control more, the corresponding elements are similar to the main one."

            "Where is this going?" Abadon asked with a sigh.

            "You're the impatient one, now aren't you?"

            "Forgive me if I'm not overwhelmingly friendly toward you. You did try to kill us recently, remember?"

            "I have not forgotten Child of Flame, I have simply put it behind me. You should do the same."

            "It's not as easy as that for me. But please," he said sarcastically, "continue."

            "Two elements used together that do not normally have anything in common create something new that is stronger than the both of them separately. That is what has happened with you."

            "What?" Abadon asked, suddenly so interested he almost grabbed for Chasm to get her to say more.

            "You are mainly a fire type, but the need for adaptation to survive has caused your fiery hide to join forces with the darkness. Thus comes the reason for your stripes. This is also how you were able to see the aura of darkness surrounding me last night and follow my quick movements. Your 'mutation,' as you so kindly referred to it earlier, has saved your life, as it was intended to do."

            "Wait," said Erin, cutting in on the conversation. She had looked behind her a few minutes ago and noticed the two pokemon talking to each other a ways back, so she went to discover the topic of their conversation. "So are you telling me that Abadon is part of some… super race of pokemon? Ones that are stronger than the others of their kind?"

            "Something of that sort, to be sure," Chasm said coolly as she began to walk again. "I have seen it before. Once, when I was traveling over a mountain, I saw a simple beedrill, which are usually a weak species, overcome a graveler by combining its poison sting with a water based attack."

            "But that's impossible!" said Erin. "Beedrill can't use water attacks."

            "And a charizard shouldn't be able to use the attacks of a dark type, but Abadon was able to partly absorb my attack last night, which most likely saved his life, if not even assisted in his evolution. A normal Char wouldn't have been able to do that, and a normal beedrill wouldn't have been able to use a water attack, but both happened, which simply enforces my theory."

            "But I can't use dark attacks; I've never been able to."

            "That is simply a barrier that you have put around yourself because of society's weak-mindedness and inability to accept that something could come about that they were not aware of. No fault of yours, I'm sure," she added sarcastically.

            All of them stopped speaking, each lost in their own thoughts. The sky was light blue, dotted with the occasional white puff of cloud. A cool breeze swept back and forth across the landscape, forcing the humidity away. The group had come across a number of small rivers that day. They were headed toward the ocean, so it was only to be expected.

            Abadon tried out his new wings later in that day: once Erin said that he was strong enough. He wasn't that skillful in the beginning, but quickly got the hang of it. Soon, he was performing dives, loops, and twists, all to the delight of his audience. Erin was proud of him, but Chasm looked on with mild interest. This was how she seemed to view the rest of the world, so Abadon was not offended. He sped up and flew high in the air, so that he looked no more than an orange speck on a clear blue plain.

            Chasm raised her head and sniffed the breeze that blew from the north. "Something is ahead of us that I have never smelled before. I don't know what it is, and I don't like that."

            Erin halted her step and glanced around warily. "Should we go see what it is? Maybe it's friendly."

            "Perhaps. It doesn't appear to be that large, that it doesn't. But I'm not going to let my guard down." 

            "Maybe we should call Abadon," suggested Erin as she shielded her eyes from the sun and looked up, searching the sky for the Char.

            "I doubt we will need him for this. I am a formidable foe."

            "I know. You attacked us last night, remember?" she didn't say this with malice; Erin was simply stating a fact.

            "Neither you or the orange one will never let me forget, it seems." 

            "All right then, let's go see what it was that you smelled." Erin continued to walk forward, keeping a lookout ahead of her. Chasm had sharper vision, but couldn't see as far because of her short stature. Erin had offered to let her sit on her shoulder, but the umbreon blatantly refused. Erin wasn't sure if it was because of pride or if Chasm still felt a small hatred toward her for being a human. Perhaps it was a little bit of both. 

Then she noticed something slightly out of the ordinary. Next to a small strip of a river they were near was a tiny, purplish-pink blob of fur. It couldn't have been more than five inches in diameter. Erin stopped and pointed to it. "Is that what you smelled, Chasm?"

The umbreon looked at it and sniffed the air once more. "Yes. Its scent is new to me. Usually I can at least identify a pokemon's type from their scent. Like Abadon up there: I would know he was a fire type from the burnt smell of ash he carries. This one however…I don't know."

"Let's get closer." Erin scooted closer to the mob of fur. It still didn't move, so she got slightly closer: still no movement. "I wonder what it is… Is it even a pokemon?" She was right next to it now and it still had done nothing to declare its existence. Erin reached out her hand.

"Careful," Chasm said, not realizing that she had shown compassion in that single word. Its significance was not lost on Erin, however. 

Erin dared to poke it. Noting happened. "It's really wet. Maybe whatever it is drowned and is no longer alive," she said sadly. With this, she reached down and picked it up. Now that it was in her hands and not simply in a heap on the ground, Erin was able to examine it better. It wasn't as small as it originally appeared, but was still small enough to barely fit in her outstretched hand, so she held it using both. "I don't know what it is, but I might have seen a picture of it somewhere during a class at school. Maybe there was a picture of it on the Prof's computer in his lab…" 

She studied it more. This creature had tiny round ears a long furry tail. It had a small nose and short front arms. Its hind legs were larger, but all in all, the pokemon wasn't that large to begin with. Erin put one hand on its chest. A faint heartbeat was felt. "It's still alive!" she said excitedly. "But he's cold and needs to be warmed up to live for much longer. Can you call Abadon," she asked Chasm, "while I find some wood for a fire?"

"If you insist." She turned her head to the sky and let out a long low howl. It wasn't the same kind of howl as a houndour or a manectric, it was much calmer and a different pitch entirely. It wasn't as much of a yelp as it was a long sad moan. She looked over to see Erin staring at her. "Umbreon needed to call each other over long distances at one point as well, that we did, before our kind were so scarce. Weren't you going to find wood to make a fire?"

"Oh, yes, right. Sorry." With that, Erin walked into the woods. When she came out with an armful of adequately sized wood, Abadon was standing by Chasm.

"I have explained everything to him already, that I have. Set the wood down so we can save the life of whatever this thing is."

Still holding the limp mystery creature in one hand, Erin dropped the various sticks in a pile, which Abadon lit by blowing a good-sized flame on it. "We want to warm it up, not scorch it," said Chasm when she saw the size of the fire.

Erin saw Abadon about to open his mouth to make a retort. "Please don't argue right now. Let's just try and help this little guy, ok?" The two pokemon sat down promptly and turned their heads away from each other, scowling.

Erin too, sat down. She pulled up a few handfuls of soft grass from near the river and made a makeshift bed for him. She set him down on it and searched through her bag. She pulled out an almost-empty bottle of healing potion. It wasn't as strong as Super Potion or Max Heal, but it was what Professor Chronal could spare when she left the academy. Erin never thought there would be a time where she would have to use it. 

"Why's there barely any left in there?" asked Abadon.

"It was full, but I used most of it last night on you and Chasm, to help you to heal. I probably used too much, but I wanted to make sure you would be ok." She wasn't sure if a healing potion would help a drown victim, but it certainly couldn't hurt. He probably had a few cuts and bruises anyway. With that done, all that was left was to wait. 

"I wonder what it is. We learn about all the types and species of pokemon at school, but for the life of me I can't remember anything about one that looked like this. Maybe it's one of those 'Lost Pokemon' that the Prof talks about sometimes. He says that there are some pokemon that haven't been seen in so long that even their legends have been forgotten; only their names remain, but even that is sometimes forgotten and we don't remember what they look like. I remember some of them. Probably more than most of the students, but again that's only because I hung out so much in Professor Chronal's lab and he taught me stuff like that. There was one called Z…um, Zapdos! That's what it was. He thinks that because it has the word 'zap' in the name that it must be some sort of electric type, and he's probably right. Let's see," she continued to think, trying to remember other Legendaries that the world had disregarded. "There was… Entei. And Suicune. Kygore, I think, and Celibi. I can't remember any more right now."

Then Abadon had an idea. "Erin! Why don't you use the pokedex? You said that Chronal told you that he got the information from a really old pokedex, one from during the time that the Legendaries were still partly believed in, right? Maybe it has the information of this pokemon in it. It couldn't hurt to try, could it?"

"Abadon!" Erin said, ecstatic. "That's a wonderful idea. I can't believe that I didn't think of that already." She searched through her bag once more and found the pokedex that Chronal had recreated. "Here it is." Erin pressed the button that flipped it open and turned it on. The computer was the first thing that it showed, as before, but Erin had opened it up facing toward Abadon. The holographic computer disappeared and tiny hologram of Abadon materialized. Every move that Abadon made, the holographic one did the same.

A man's voice came from the pokedex. It said, "Charizard: the flame pokemon. Spits fire that is hot enough to melt boulders. Known to cause forest fires unintentionally. Breathing intense, hot flames, it can melt almost anything. Its breath inflicts terrible pain on enemies."

Abadon smiled sheepishly. "I don't cause forest fires."

"Right, you prefer Pokecenter fires." Erin laughed at Abadon's frown. "I'm just teasing you. Let's see what is says about Chasm." She turned it toward Chasm and the tiny charizard was replaced by an equally small umbreon.

"Umbreon," it said. "The moonlight pokemon. When agitated, this Pokemon protects itself by spraying poisonous sweat from its pores. On the night of a full moon, or when it gets excited, the ring patterns on its body glow yellow. The name comes from "Umbra", which means the blackest part of a shadow. 

Chasm scoffed. "Only the frightened children ever spray poison. An umbreon that has been well trained has no need of such tactics."

"Well," said Erin. "It seems both of you have your opinions on how valid this information is. Let's see if it knows what our new friend is. She turned the pokedex so it focused on the pokemon on the ground.

"Mew. A pokemon thought by most to be nothing more than myth. Its DNA is said to contain the genetic codes of all Pokemon, so it can use all kinds of techniques."

All any of the three, human and pokemon alike, were able to do was stare at the tiny pokemon, struggling for life on the ground.

"A- a MEW!?!"  

Oh yes, one more thing. Blair was really nice and told everyone reading her story to read mine, so now I'm plugging hers, which is really good, by the way. Everyone reading this should go and read hers. There is a serious lack of originality in the fan fics, especially Pokemon ones, but hers is spectacular. Her pen name is Keleri, and the story is Blackbird.

Please review to my story. It makes me feel good and want to write more!  


	11. Awakening

            Erin's wide, staring eyes darted back and forth from the pokedex to the tiny pokemon in front of her, her mouth agape. The pokedex had to be lying to her; it was the only explanation. No, it was a machine; it couldn't be lying. It was just broken then. Gods, there had to be some mistake. Her breathing came in short gasps as she buried her head in her hands. "A mew? How can that thing be a mew? How can we even _be_ with a mew? This isn't happening. This can't be happening. There must be some mistake. There is _no_ way this can be happening. I-"

            "Erin stop!" said Abadon, giving her a slight shake. "It has to be a mew- whatever that is. I mean, the pokedex said it was and you said that Professor Chronal didn't mess up on that sort of thing, right? Besides, you also said that you had never seen this pokemon in your studies at school," the Char continued, pointing to the pokemon in question, asleep on the ground by the fire.

            Erin simply looked back at Abadon in disbelief. "But it _can't _be a mew!" She looked at the pokedex like it was a foreign object. "This is simply the first prototype of an object that's considered lost technology! The Prof can't have gotten all the bugs out. _Don't you understand?_ A mew isn't merely a Forgotten Pokemon; a mew is an Ancient! An Ancient _God_ Pokemon! That's what all the legends say!"

            "That pokedex device said nothing of god-hood, that it didn't." Chasm said, speaking up for the first time. Erin and Abadon both stopped to listen to what the umbreon had to say. So far, she had only spoken when she had something meaningful to say. Well, that or to argue with Abadon, but this did not seem like the time for that. Chasm stood up and walked over to the miniature pokemon to examine it. "Mews have been part of legend for an eternity, that they have. This must be why they are believed to be a god. That, and their power."

            She looked up at the others. Their expressions showed that they wanted Chasm to continue. "I know nothing other than that. A mew's power capabilities are beyond me. Who knows what they are able to accomplish?"

            Erin and Abadon looked at each other uncertainly. "But I'm sure we have nothing to worry about," Chasm said, coolly sarcastic as she walked back over to where the other two sat.

            The mew made a faint sound and stirred slightly. Erin, Abadon, and Chasm all froze and looked at the tiny pokemon, slightly fearful.

            "What do we do?" whispered Abadon.

            "How am I supposed to know?" countered Erin, somewhat louder than need be. "I just found it!"

            "We do nothing," said the umbreon, calm once more. "Nothing but wait and see what comes."

            There was silence all around for the next few minutes. The water on the mew's fur had evaporated thanks to the fire provided by Abadon. He- that is, the mew- opened his little mouth and yawned as he stretched his arms. The mew rolled over and blinked a few times, revealing eyes of a deep blue. He then sat up and glanced around confused, his long tail waving behind. "How did I get here?" The mew's eyes came to rest on Erin and the other pokemon and his face brightened. He stood up and hopped over to them. "Hi. Who are you? What're your names? Where's here? Whatcha doing? What are you? How-"

            "A child!?!" said Erin, stunned. Abadon and Chasm were surprised as well. "He's only a child? We found a baby, and that's what we were so afraid of?"

            "Speak for yourself," said Abadon, crossing his arms. "I wasn't afraid."

            "Oh you were too," Erin laughed as she gave the charizard a shove, which wasn't extremely hard, considering the height/ weight ratio of the two.

            "I agree," Chasm joined in. She may be wise, but never missed an opportunity to pick on the newly-evolved charizard. "Both of you were frightened."

            "Speak for yourself, ring-tail!" yelled Abadon in mock offence. "I saw you tense."

            "I did no such thing!"

            "I don't know Chasm, I-" At this, Erin stopped. She had glanced over to see the mew child hovering in the air near them with a large smile on his face.

            "You guys are fun to watch," he laughed. "Hey, look what I can do!" With that he flipped over so that he was floating upside down. The mew thought this was outstandingly hilarious and his grin widened. The others couldn't help but smile themselves. "What're your names?" he asked.

            Erin answered for all of them. "My name is Erin, this is Abadon, and she's Chasm. Who are you?"

            The mew snickered to himself, still upside down. "Those are funny names. Mine is Nerotalabiathin."

            There was silence from the other end.

            "_Our_ names are funny?" said Abadon, rather loud. "How do you expect us to prono-mmphffm." Erin had stood up and clamped a hand over his mouth.

            "Does anyone you know call you anything else? Anything shorter?" she asked kindly.

            The mew righted himself with a confused expression on his tiny face. "Why would I be called anything other than my name?"

            "Then do you mind if we just shorten it? Like a nickname?"

            "How do you shorten a name?" He seemed to think this whole conversation on names was incredibly interesting and floated a bit closer.

            "What was your name again?"

            "Nerotalabiathin."

            "Right, well. Do you mind if we just call you Nero? That's the first part of your name, and it's a little easier to remember."

            The mew child was fascinated by this concept. "Nero…" he said slowly, as if trying it out. Then he smiled and performed a small flip in the air. "Nero, I like it. Can you do that to all names? Can I just call you Er?"

            "Well," Erin started to say, scratching her head. "Erin's pretty easy to say to begin with…"

            Nero didn't appear to have heard her and continued on as if talking to himself. "Hey, if you say 'Er' like you do for your name, instead of just an 'e' and an 'r' together, then it sounds like 'air.' Does that mean you can fly? Do you fly on Abadon's back? Or should I just say Aba? Or is it Abad? No, your guys' names I like better the way they are. I hope you don't mind, though."

            Chasm had long become bored, if not annoyed, with the whole conversation. She lie down on the grass by the fire and closed her large yellow eyes in hopes of getting some rest.

            "How did you get here?" Erin asked Nero, interrupting his incredibly random train of thought.

            He seemed confused for a second, but then smiled again. "I don't know," he answered, floating over to Erin and examining her brown hair so closely that it was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable. "I woke up and you three were here."

            "That's not what she meant, Squirt," Abadon said affectionately. The apprehension they had all felt earlier had completely vanished by this time. They had nothing to fear from this young mew and his meaningless questions. "What Erin wanted to know," the charizard continued, "was how did you almost come to drown in that river?" He pointed with a clawed hand in the direction indicated and Nero's tiny eyes followed. 

            "I don't know."

            Chasm lifted her head. "For an all-powerful pokemon of legend, you don't seem to know much."

            "Hey, now that wasn't very nice." Abadon had taken a fatherly personality toward Nero in this short amount of time. He turned toward the umbreon and crossed his arms. "Now apologize." He was just fooling around and struggled to keep a strait face. Nero was giggling behind him.

            Chasm sighed and rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Make yourself useful you oversized orange nitwit and put out the fire. We should keep going now that the child is awake; that we should." This sent Nero into a new fit of laughter as Abadon shot her a death glare.

            Erin stood up and patted the Char on the back before following. "She's right ol' buddy. We should keep going." Nero followed after her, darting through the air.

            Abadon sighed and began to stomp out the fire, occasionally throwing in sand or rocks from the shore of the river. Before long, he too continued in the direction of the others.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Small, shifty eyes glanced around, searching for sustenance to sustain their owner's body further. It's nose quivered, catching the scent of prey. A low rumbling gave way to a full-fledged roar as the animal charged forward at blinding speed and its mouth watered, its prey in sight. 

            Nero clung to the apple and began to eat it while it was still connected to the tree. "Wow!" he said, mouth full. "I sure was hungry!"

            "I didn't know something so small could have a stomach that roared so loudly!" said Abadon.

            Erin looked at the apples longingly. "Hey Nero! Toss some of those apples down here! We're hungry too." One fell almost right into her hands and she bit into it hungrily. "Those travel bars certainly didn't last long…"

            Abadon grimaced and stuck out his tongue. "No thanks. Meager fruit won't sustain a vicious hunter like me."

            "Ha!" Chasm scoffed. "Vulgar beast is more like it." She shrugged of the Char's warning growl and headed toward the nearby forest. "I don't care for fruit too much myself, but I eat it when necessary. If I am unable to find anything to hunt in these depleted woods then there is nothing there and I will return for an apple." With that she was off, seeming to melt into the shadows.

            Abadon pouted and glared sideways at the spot where she was last seen. "I don't like her much…" He only required one flap of his mighty wings of left himself off the dust-covered ground and a few more to clear the trees. Within seconds the graceful charizard was high in the sky on a hunt.

            "I like them both," said Nero innocently, still dangling from the apple, although at this point it was no more than a core.

            "So do I," replied Erin. "Looks like it's just you and me for a while. Pass down a few more apples would you? _I_ happen to like them. And not any with brown spots or parasites or anything. Those'll make you sick."

            "K, I'll be careful. I sure was hungry though." He began swinging back and forth on his apple core and, without moving from his new toy, mentally broke the stems on a few more apples and let them fall to the ground for Erin.

            Erin shielded her head from the sudden assault and then sharply looked back toward Nero. It only now began to register what he was capable of. "How did you do that?"

            He looked down on her as the apple swung to and fro. "Do what? Make the apple swing? Well, first I picked on apple, then I ate it, then I hung on and moved my tail back and forth to get it going. You might have trouble since you don't have a tail but- Wait, you're too big anyway so-"

            "Not the swing, Nero," Erin interrupted. "The apples; they fell without you touching them. How did you do that?"

            Nero let go of his swing and floated leisurely down to the ground where Erin sat. "I don't know."

            Erin sighed. This seemed to be his answer for most everything her group had asked him that morning. As in: where are you from; where is your family; do you even have a family; what kind of things do you like to do; etc. All had the same three-word answer. "Even if you don't know how you did it, can you do it again?"

            Nero smiled and hopped up and down. "Sure!" he said excitedly. Immediately every apple on the ground rose to hover a foot from the grass. It had happened so hast that Erin jumped back slightly. "Whoa. What other stuff can you do?"

            The apples dropped. "I don't know."

            Erin groaned and sat back against the tree. 

            "As I said before," said Chasm as she stepped silently out of the forest. "For a pokemon who is supposed to be all powerful, he doesn't seem to know much."

            "Chasm, play nice with our new friend," Erin reprimanded.

            "Isn't that big oaf back yet" she said, ignoring Erin's comment.

            "What's an oaf?" asked Nero before Erin could answer. He made his was over to the umbreon. "Are you an oaf?"

            "What?" she said, her ears pricking up.

            "What did you say earlier? Nitwit? Is that good or bad? Are you a nitwit?"  
            "Come here and I'll show you…" Chasm growled softly. She began walking slowly toward the mew with an obvious intention.

            "Nero, I don't think-"

            "Abadon called you ring-tail. Can I call you ring-tail?" he continued, cocking his head to the side.

            "Chasm, now remember, he's only-" Erin's attempts to stop what she knew was coming failed as Chasm leaped for Nero, claws out stretched. "No!" yelled Erin.

            Chasm landed only to find her paws empty, the mew a few steps in front of her. She leaped at him again, but once more Nero stayed ahead of her. She continued to feverishly chase him, but seemingly effortlessly Nero stayed just beyond Chasm's grasp. He began to laugh which only made Chasm angrier and try harder to catch the tiny pokemon, but it was all to no avail. She leaped off rocks and sprung from trees, but Nero was never any closer to being within reach. Soon enough, Chasm lay on the ground panting while Nero was rolling in fits of laughter, not the least bit exhausted.

            "Doesn't that thing ever rest?" Chasm asked herself between breaths. 

            Nero suddenly sat up strait, and then zipped toward the apple tree once more. "I'm hungry again," he said.

            Erin continued to laugh.

            Abadon suddenly landed on the path and licked his mouth. "Aaahh yes, pidgiotto, young and in it's prime. I won't have to hunt again for about a week. Man, that was good!"

            Chasm, now sufficiently rested, stood up and rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, please, tell us all about your glorious hunt…"

            "You see, first I sniffed the air to catch a scent, then I bravely set out after my prey and trailed it carefully until-"

            "Abadon, she was being sarcastic, as usual. We don't really want to hear about your massacre." Erin began to fill her bag with apples for later incase they didn't reach a town before nightfall. "Now that we're all here," she began, ignoring Abadon's sour face, "we should be off again."

            "Where're we going?" asked Nero.

            "We're going to follow this path until we reach the next city, where we will hopefully find a map of the surrounding area so we will no longer be lost, and somehow get more money, which we will need to survive."

            "What's money? Do I have any? I must have, if I'm surviving, right? What's a map? Is it kind of like an apple? 'Cause those apples were good. If a map is like that then I'm sure I'll like it. How long 'til we find a map? I think I'm getting hungry again. If I'm hungry again before we get to a map, can I have another apple? Hey Chasm, how come your eye is twitching? Did something get in it when we were playing chase?"

            "Let's play a game!" said Erin suddenly, noticing what Nero's constant questions wee doing to the umbreon.

            "Oh boy! A game! What kind of game are we going to play?" Nero asked, darting around the heads of the rest of the group.

            Erin grabbed him before he flew too close to Chasm's awaiting claws. "The game is that you stay on whatever side of me that Chasm's not. No matter where she goes, you're on the opposite side of me, got it?"

            "Oh boy, this is fun!" he promptly flew to Erin's other side as Chasm sighed in thankfulness. Then she froze.

            Chasm looked at the ground in slight confusion and soon Abadon was doing the same. Human senses aren't as sharp as a pokemon's, but after a few seconds, Erin could feel it too: a rumbling within the earth. Something big was coming. As one, the four of them looked toward the sky as three grant black fighter jets screamed overhead, moving they were soon dots on the horizon.

            "Oh no," whispered Erin. "The war is spreading. Those jets shouldn't be here, not now. It was only a week ago that we saw the news. Right Abadon? It said that we hadn't entered the war yet. It was only isolated in Jhoto and Kanto. Hoenn was only just getting involved. It was only my stupid parent' country that was supposed to get blown up…" Erin said, her lip quivering.

            Chasm peered up at Erin. "A volcano cannot explode and not affect its surroundings. I believe that is a popular saying in the Cinnibar Islands, am I right?"

            Erin watched the umbreon silently.

            "What's that?" asked Nero, coking his head.

            "I think you're a little late for that, Squirt," said Abadon. "Erin already explained what those jets meant."

            "No, listen," said Chasm, ears twitching it pick up the minute sound of movement in the brush. Everyone stood still. 

            Nero's face unexpectedly brightened. "Khyt!" he shouted, zipping off into the forest. "It's Khyt, it's Khyt!"

            "Nero, wait!" hollered Erin, chasing after him. 

            "Wait up, Squirt!" yelled Abadon, following.

            Chasm sighed once more. "I suppose I'll come as well." She slinked after the other three and into the shrouded forest. She had no problem jumping through the tightly knit vines that created a barrier surrounding the forest itself, but knew it must have been slightly more difficult for the bulky charizard.

            She caught up with them shortly after, but Abadon and Erin were standing alone with seemingly no inclination to continue forward. Nero was nowhere in sight.


	12. Flying a Kite

            "What's wrong?" Chasm asked the other two. "Why aren't you moving? Where is the child?" She wondered if something had happened to them or Nero, which revealed that, despite her cold exterior, Chasm could care about others.

            Erin turned around to face the umbreon. "Abadon can't figure out where he went."

            Chasm was disgusted. "Can't you even catch a scent? Are you that incompetent?"

            Abadon whipped his head around to look Chasm angrily in the eye. "Despite what you believe about me, Chasm, I am extremely competent. I thought you would have realized that during our battle. I defeated you as a charmeleon, what do you think I could accomplish now that I have evolved? There is a fire burning inside of me that is simply waiting to be unleashed, and I highly doubt you would like to be on the receiving end." He was breathing deeply as he stopped speaking, and an internal rage flickered within the Char's eyes, which Chasm was unable to miss. She said nothing in reply.

            Erin hadn't known Abadon able to lash out like that, and was slightly unnerved. She fingered the bottom of her shirt uneasily. 

            "Now, about the Squirt's scent…" the charizard began again, gazing at the trees above them as if nothing had happened. "It is here, that's certain. But then, it just stops." Abadon closed his eyes and sniffed the air, just to be sure. Then he opened one eye and peeked at Chasm. "Give the air a whiff if you don't believe me."

            Chasm never liked to admit to defeat, but she seemed to be doing that more often since she met these two. Still, if there was a chance that Abadon had missed something, she wanted to be assured. Closing her eyes as well, the dark pokemon slowly inhaled, as if she were savoring every scent that passed her nostrils. She picked up her delicate paws and walked forward a few steps. Sure enough, the mew's scent went no further. He had come to this particular spot and then…vanished. 

            Chasm opened her large yellow eyes and glared into Abadon's deep blue ones. "You are right. Or so it appears." She circled around and made her way in the direction of the path.

            "Where are you going?" Erin asked.

            Chasm halted her step and turned her head. "I had assumed that we would keep to the path to reach the next town. I understood that your kind preferred that to trekking blindly through the forest." 

            "What about Nero?" asked Abadon.

            Chasm glanced toward him before turning around again and continuing her walk. "What about him?" she asked. "He has left us by some unnatural means and it doesn't appear to be returning, that he doesn't. There is nothing left for us here."

            "It did seem like there was something here that he recognized, though," added Erin. "Remember? He was saying something about a kite."

            "No," said the charizard thoughtfully. "I think he said Khyt, like a name. There was someone here, and he knew who it was."

            "But there is no scent of anyone else. It would have to have been a grass type; they smell the same as the earth."

            "Or a ghost type. They don't have any kind of scent at all."

            "Possibly. It gives us something to think about anyway." Once more, Chasm made her way back to the trail.

"But we can't just leave!" Erin protested suddenly. "What if Nero comes back and there's no one here? What if he almost dies again; there won't be anybody here to help him next time…"

Chasm listened calmly to her argument that sounded close to hysteria, and then glanced around the forest. "I highly doubt that he will, that I do." Then she looked back at Erin and studied her closely. "And I believe you feel this as well."

Erin didn't reply, for she realized that she had felt this, she simply didn't want to admit it to herself. She had helped to rescue the mew child, and she felt responsible for him because of this, but now she could do nothing.

Chasm turned once more to the path. This time the others followed.

            "I hope the squirt's okay…" mumbled Abadon softly to himself. No one answered.

The three walked in silence for a few minutes, each caught in their own thoughts. Abadon had become worried that something dangerous had befallen Nero. Chasm was doing her best to decipher what she had seen in the Char's eyes when he had become enraged. Erin thoughts were more sporadic, ranging from the coming war to the weather to how they were going to pay for supplies once they got to the next town. Finally she said, "I wonder how far away the closest city is. I think I overheard a few people talking in the town we left, and they said that it was a ways off. I hope it's not too far, because we're running low on food, and I prefer not to have to hunt to survive. No offence you two."

            "None taken," replied Abadon. Chasm remained silent. Suddenly, Abadon's face brightened as a smile spread across it's front. "Hey! I have an idea. Why don't you two get on my back and I can fly you to the next town? It would be much faster than even taking a car."

            At the mention of flying, two things happened. Erin became excited at the thought of soaring through the air, and Chasm became horrified that she would even consider it. She refused to go. The umbreon insisted that she simply didn't want to be that close to anyone and she wasn't sure the large dolt (meaning Abadon) was strong enough to carry both of them so far. Abadon insisted heartily that he was perfectly able to do so. Erin thought that Chasm might be afraid of heights, but wouldn't damage the dark pokemon's pride by saying so.

            Erin took Chasm over to the side and explained to her that if she didn't look down then she wouldn't be able to tell the difference from riding in a car over rough terrain. Chasm said that, being a wild pokemon, she had never ridden in a car and at the moment couldn't think of a reason that would ever bring her to do so. This was posing a problem.

            "Please, Chasm," pleaded Erin. "Just give it a try. If you don't like it, then we can stop. I'll make Abadon land and we'll walk the rest of the way, but please just attempt it before refusing."

            "I never gave the implication that I was afraid to go up that high," Chasm retorted weakly. Then she looked up at Erin and saw to great desire to ride on the Char, and finally relented. Chasm knew however, that once she got up in the air, that she would not tell them to land, for no matter how great her fear of heights was, her pride was greater. They mounted Abadon's back.

            "Hold on!" hollered Abadon happily. Before any reply could be made, he gave one mighty thrust of his wings and lifted his legs off the ground. Another thrust gave him more leeway, and with two more, the Char had cleared the trees. Soon, all three were soaring through the clouds. Abadon glanced back at his passengers and saw where their differences truly lie. He had never seen a wider grin spread across Erin's face, and her eyes were full of amazement. Chasm, on the other hand, had her eyes shut tight and sat rigid with Erin's arms around her. This time he made no smart-aleck comment toward the umbreon, but turned his head back to the flight path and concentrated on keeping as steady as possible.

            In the near past, scientists had discovered a few charizard skeletons that were only around a hundred years old. They had human skeletons nearby that were assumed to be their riders. The neck portion of the Chars' vertebral column had been broken. And so, to solve the puzzle and answer the question as to why this had occurred, the scientists said that it must have been because the riders had been sitting wrong when they rode on their charizard's back. A lifetime of sitting at the base of their necks had weakened them and they eventually couldn't take the pressure any longer. The Char trainers of the time naturally changed their posture when flying and now rode lying down across their backs in a specially made harness. 

            Now, while the scientists' conclusion had some merit to it, they really didn't understand what was happening, and so couldn't have drawn conclusions that were completely correct. The scientists didn't understand that their world was dying. They didn't understand that wild pokemon were becoming more and more scarce, and that their cloned pokemon were becoming slightly weaker and weaker each time their genetic information was reused. The world of pokemon they had known up until this point was fading right before their eyes, and the scientists were blind to it.

            Since the charizard were not as strong as they once were, they naturally could not hold as much weight as they once could. Their bones were becoming more brittle, and so they could no longer support the full weight of a rider on their neck over a lifetime, as they once were able. Their necks broke from the strain in mid-flight, killing the Char almost instantly, and killing the rider once they made impact with the ground. And so the race of the Chars began to die out. But the world would not have it this way. No, the Chars along with the other depleting pokemon of the land fought within their selves for survival and began to multiply once more, this time slightly different than before. Soon however, there were no Chars left in captivity to take DNA from, and they, as well as the ridiculous way of riding, died out from the sight of common man. But there were those that survived.

That brings us back to Erin, who knew nothing of this, and was riding Abadon as trainers did in the old days, before genetic cloning was a possibly and the Chars of the land were strong and able. She couldn't remember a time when she had felt freer in her life. Her mind glimpsed for a brief moment back to the Academy, and realized that now, she had finally broken the bonds in which they had held her. Erin realized that their way of teaching pokemon training had worked, and was most likely necessary, for an age, but would soon no longer be needed. Like the gods and Warriors of Old, everything died out and was replaced by something else at some point in time; nothing could last forever. 

After a time, Chasm calmed down. She was no longer quite as tense and even opened her eyes. She did not, however, look down, but focused her attention strait ahead, firm and unmoving. It seemed that once again, Abadon was correct in stating that he was perfectly able to carry the both of them for a long period of time. The excitement of soaring above the land, or fear in Chasm's case, had made the group forget about all else, including hunger, and so they flew on through lunch, only realizing this when Erin's stomach growled, nearly deafening the umbreon. Naturally, this gave Chasm an ideal excuse to request a landing.

   The trio landed a few miles off from a city, which in turn, was only a few miles from the ocean. Night was creeping up on them as well, so Erin said that they had better keep going if they were to find shelter for the night. Storm clouds looked to be heading their way, and she did not want to be camping outside in the rain. She ate on the way. Despite the coming storm and the loss of a friend, things seemed to be looking bright in Erin's point of view.


	13. Tragedy Revisited

            "This can't be happening…" Erin said to herself slowly. "This can NOT be happening…"

            Like they had believed earlier, the group reached the town before the rain did and all were in high spirits: Erin and Abadon from the refreshing flight, but Chasm because it was finally over. Night was closing in and they had made their was quickly to the nearest Pokecenter. Their travels had slowly brought them on a path toward the ocean, and this town was almost directly on the wharf. The towns and cities along the coast line had not become as corrupted as those closer toward the mainland, and so the outskirts of the city they had entered was not near as bad as the ones Erin had entered previously. The skies were darkening and the rolling thunder threatened to let loose on them if they didn't run faster. The first drops were already making their was down from the clouds as they reached the doors and hurried inside.

            They tried their hardest to stay unnoticed, but it wasn't usually normal for people Erin's age to have one or two pokemon, let alone allow them to wander around out of their pokeballs. And if their stares lasted a bit linger to watch the mighty Char, what of it? All in all, each of them had thought the day had gone rather well.

            But of course that's when things usually tend to go wrong.

            Erin had been at the counter talking to a nurse who hardly seemed old enough to be out of nursing school about food and boarding for the night. Abadon had been standing in the middle of the room holding onto his tail and looking about warily as if a table or chair would soon leap at him to purposely catch itself on fire. Chasm stood indifferently near Erin, although not too near, in case someone should mistake her indifference for affection. 

            That was when the door opened to allow an extremely wet trainer and her pokemon, a zangoose, to enter.

            "Man, Zangoose, is it pouring outside or what?" the trainer asked rhetorically. Her Zangoose made no attempt to answer. The trainer shook her head full of shoulder-length blonde hair in hopes that it would make a difference in how wet she felt. It didn't. The trainer stood in line behind Erin, patiently waiting her turn. Her Zangoose looked around the room with little or no interest at all. Then his eyes fell on Chasm.

            He wandered over to her. "This your trainer?" he asked gruffly, nodding his head in the direction of Erin.

            "I don't have a trainer," Chasm said coolly. "She is simply an acquaintance, a traveling partner."

            "Getting a little touchy there, aren't we Umbreon?"

            "My name is Chasm, not Umbreon," she replied with spite.

            "Oh," said the zangoose in mock-awe. "So you have a name like a human, aren't we special?"

            "No. I have a name like a pokemon. If you allow yourself to be called by your species then you are obviously lab-bred and I have no further interest in conversing with you, that I don't."

            If Erin or the zangoose's trainer heard the argument that was beginning at that very moment, they would have rushed to break it up, each knowing the extent to which their friend could take it. But, as it were, neither did and so the argument flared, almost as if it were Abadon's tail flame brushing against a table once more.

            Neither pokemon was prone to shouting, so they hissed and spat their ridged insults back and fourth, but the words would inevitably lead to attacks… which they did.

            The two were to the side of the long nurse's counter, where the hallway to the rooms began. The zangoose decided to go all out in the beginning, and tried to get in close for a fury swipes attack. Chasm was appalled by his audacity and retaliated with a dark meld. A Dark Meld is an attack that only dark type pokemon are able to perform. Something of a liquid darkness appears around them, literally pushing out all light from the area surrounding them. An opponent is not able to get too close for fear of becoming paralyzed quite painfully.

            This is what Chasm performed, causing the floor and walls around her to be consumed in an unnatural darkness. The zangoose had never seen this attack before, so instead of halted in fear, he halted out of surprise. It did not matter though, for the end of his clawed foot still touched the dark matter and his whole leg became paralyzed. It also felt to him like his leg would soon explode extremely painfully from the inside out, and this did nothing to ease his disposition. Instantly he pulled back and began howling while hopping on his one good leg and holding the other in his paws.   

            At once everyone in the room glanced, startled, in his direction. But he didn't stop there; in his pain and fury the zangoose threw himself at Chasm, no longer caring about the paralyzing darkness on the floor. Chasm had not been expecting this and was thrown backwards as the zangoose swiped at her sleek coat. In a rage, Chasm hissed and sunk poisonous teeth into his arm, but his fur was too thick, so she braced herself and body-slammed the zangoose in the same way she had Abadon, when he had still been a charmeleon.

            The result was catastrophic as the zangoose was hurled backwards into a table, splintering it. One of the larger splinters made its way crashing strait into a vid-screen. The zangoose didn't move from his spot on the floor and Chasm stood, also unmoving, ridged and seething in anger. It was then the nurse broke into tears. She had just been relating to Erin what a stressful week she had been forced to endure and how glad she would be when she could finally relax that night.

            The nurse would have no more of it, she wailed through her tears. She now had to purchase a new table and video screen, as well as stare at a dark meld attack, which would take weeks to properly clean up. No, she would certainly have no more of it. Both Erin and the other trainer were banned from ever entering that Pokecenter again.

            If looks could kill, Erin certainly would have died on the spot from the glare she received from the zangoose trainer as she returned the pokemon to its pokeball. "Bloody hell, thanks a lot!" was all she said before storming out into the rain once more.

            But Erin and her group weren't far behind, courtesy of the Pokecenter nurse. She literally shoved them out the door, still in tears. It all seemed like great déjà vu for Erin and Abadon.

            So this was why Erin was standing outside the Pokecenter at this precise moment, completely drenched and saying, "This can NOT be happening…" She turned to glare at Chasm.

            "I will not apologize," the umbreon said, miserably wet and shivering, "for what I did to him. He insulted me first, and he attacked me first, that he did. He got what he deserved."

            Erin looked back inside the window to the dry couch by the ruined table. "I'm cursed," she said, sighing deeply. "It's the only explanation." She sighed once more, turned, and began to walk up the street. "Come on, let's find a hotel…"

            "So much for beating the rain…" Abadon mumbled from the back.

~*~*~*~

They did indeed find a hotel to sleep in, but it was in such bad shape that it might have been more beneficial to them to have just slept outside again, except for the fact that it was raining and Erin needed a hot shower. The hot water wouldn't last long in a place like this, she knew, but she would let it continuously beat down upon her head in a course stream as long as it did. It also gave her time to think by herself. What a disposition she was in, she thought. Erin had given away the last money she had to her name to guy at the desk, and she knew by his look that if that was all she had, she would not be welcome to stay another night. Pokemon were not allowed at the inn, so she had to sneak Abadon and Chasm in through the back window. Chasm was easier. 

She wondered silently to herself what the students at the academy would think of her now. Once on her way to being a great martial artist and fighting pokemon trainer, she now stood broke in a hotel with walls that were barely paper-thin. On top of that, what would Professor Chronal think? She definitely could not tell him. If things began looking up for her, she might give him a call, but not until then. 

The water flowing from the showerhead had begun to get colder, so Erin reached down and turned the knob off, sighing as she did so. What was she going to do? Well, sleep might help; it couldn't hurt, at least. Maybe some great epiphany would come to her in the night and she would know exactly what to do to escape from her problem. 

Drying off and dressing for the night, she made her way into the bedroom. Abadon had stolen a pillow and was on the floor, already asleep. He had the right to do so, for it was he who had flown the other two the whole way there. Chasm was sitting calm as ever on the windowsill staring out into the darkened sky. Erin yawned and gave away just how tired she was without knowing it. Chasm looked her way.

"Do not worry yourself about what life brings. It will throw at you whatever it chooses, the only great task for you is in how you will respond to it."

Erin stopped mid-yawn. How did she know what she had been thinking? She sat on the bed, which was hard as a rock, yet creaked horribly none the less. "Chasm," Erin began quietly. "Can you read my mind?"

"No," the pokemon responded, staring once more to what was beyond the window. "But you humans are rather easy to read. No matter how hard you attempt to hide you feelings and thoughts, much of it leaks out anyway. You were deeply troubled when you emerged from the bathroom, that you were, and I simply guessed at the cause."

"Well, you're a darn good guesser. Good night Chasm." Erin turned off the light and crawled under the covers of the bed, oddly comforted. Chasm continued to watch the night.


	14. Oportunity

A/N   Wow, it's been awhile, hasn't it? Many months since I've uploaded last, and for that, I must apologize to my readers. I have more inspiration now to continue this fic, and hope that updates will come sooner in the future. crosses fingers So, without further procrastination, here's the newest installment of Wings of Flame.

            The sweet scent of freshly baked pancakes drenched in maple syrup filled the air. A cool breeze blew the trees lining the sidewalk and bent them on their fragile limbs. Those trees appeared as if they soon planned to disconnect themselves from their roots and run off. The songs of the widely found pidgey and swellow, as well as the less than friendly spearow littered the air.

            Erin awoke in a lighthearted mood…until she realized the pancakes were next door at the hotel she was unable to afford to sleep in. She groaned and rose from the bed stiff and sore, only to see Chasm in the same spot she was sitting in when Erin went to sleep.

            "Have you been there all night?" she asked the umbreon.

            Chasm glanced at Erin drolly. "I require very little sleep, that I do."

            Since she offered no more in reply, Erin shrugged and stood up, stretching to relieve herself of the aches. On her way to the bathroom she nudged Abadon rather roughly with her foot and told him to get up. Their time to clock out was soon, and if they didn't make it, more money would have to be paid: money that they did not have. Abadon sat up grumpily. It seems he is not friendly to be around early in the morning. By the time Erin was out of the bathroom, he was slightly more amiable, if not fully awake.

            Erin made sure what meager possessions she owned was safe in her pack, mainly the pokedex, and shouldered it, ready to head out. One thing was certain, however: she would not call Chronal until she was having better luck. For that to happen, Erin had to find work. She grudgingly paid the hotel owner and left, thankful to be out of the stink hole and looking forward to being in a better part of town. Despite being a port town, and therefore not as advanced and influenced by the changing of the times as other cities, Erin didn't want to run into a gang like the one when she had first met Abadon. Although her mood and the seemingly visible tension eradiating from her eyes might tip off any group looking for trouble that Erin was not the kind of trouble they wanted at the moment. She didn't want to talk to anyone just then, and the pokemon seemed to sense this, for neither said a word, but a few looks passed between them knowingly.

            In their search across town for a few odd jobs to gain money, they passed by the Pokecenter again. Erin made sure to cross on the other side of the street. One could never be too sure about things that include one's safety. A bakery the three traveled by was giving away free samples of a few of their items, in attempt to gain costumers. Erin happily took a few, perhaps more than her allotted share should have been, but then, she had had nothing to eat since lunch the previous day. Abadon swiped one clawed hand across the platter as the remaining pastries fell into his other hand. The lady holding the tray started to make a comment, that is, until she looked up at the massive creature and decided it was not in her best interest to argue. Chasm caught one as it missed Abadon's arm before it could fall to the ground.

            Just when she thought all hope was lost, and that she would have to find another, hopefully friendlier town that needed quick work, she spotted a poster stapled to a wooden steak hammered in the ground. The sign read simply, in large bold lettering, HELP WANTED – ONE DAY'S HARD WORK, then it gave the address below. Erin's face brightened as she turned to the others and pointed to the sign. "Look! This is our chance!" Then she took off at a jog down the sidewalk to the building indicated. "If no one else has taken it, then we can get money, and that means we can get food!" she said between breaths as she ran. This caused Abadon to speed up.

            The address was near the docks, and appeared to be a fishing supply store. When Erin and the two pokemon reached their destination, they first paused outside to catch their breath before going in to talk with the manager. "You two should stay out here for now, in case pokemon aren't allowed inside, like at the hotel," said Erin. She turned and walked inside the shop. Sitting behind the counter was an old man with gentle eyes and a cheerful smile. On the walls of the store were fishing rods and nets of all varieties and sizes. The more expensive and high-tech rods were contained in glass cases near the register, where the old man could easily keep an eye on them. Despite the range to choose from, this store did not sell supplies that were made to catch anything larger than a seaking, and saying that was a stretch.

"Welcome; how may I help you?" he asked.

            "Actually," replied Erin, "I came in reference to a sign I saw about a job. See, I'm just passing through this city, but I need some quick cash and no one else needs my help."

            At this, the man frowned. "Oh, I'm sorry. The work I need done requires heavy lifting. I'm not strong enough to do it myself, but no one in this town seems to want to help an old man. I'm afraid that you wouldn't be able help me." He appeared genuinely disappointed, but Erin didn't think that this would be a problem.

            "Actually, I might have a solution," she said. She turned toward the door. "Abadon!" she called, "come here!" The head of a large reptilian creature could now be seen peeking in through the doorway. "Would he be able to help?" she asked the man.

            The man was startled at first, but then, this is understandable, for any Char is rare, and since pokemon are not often seen evolved to their third level anymore, Charizard are scarce. "Uh, um," he stuttered. "Yes, uh, he'll do fine," the man managed to say after giving his head a shake. "Follow me." He opened a door in the wall to Erin's right and walked through, motioning for Erin to do the same. Erin waved for Abadon to follow, who in turn told Chasm, who didn't look too thrilled, but then again, she didn't get excited at the drop of a hat.

            Through the door was a surprisingly large storeroom, filled with half-opened boxes that were in great disarray. The room was filled with dust and appeared that no one had stepped foot beyond the door's opening in many months. "My name is Mr. Kline, and what I need you to do for me is to clean this room, which requires moving those large boxes. So now you see why not just anyone could assist me."

            Erin did understand, for some of the boxes were too large for her to even reach around, let alone lift up off the ground. "Thank you Mr. Kline. My name is Erin, and this is Abadon and Chasm."

            "Pokemon with names? Interesting," he said, shrugging off the notion. "Well, I'm sure that you and your pokemon will do a wonderful job. Your pay," the man remarked on his way out the door, "will be decided on how good a job you do, however, so keep that in mind."

            With this said, Erin was determined to do the task well. That is, make sure Abadon does the task well. She would assist in the cleaning and dusting, but Abadon would be the only one able to lift the heavy boxes. They soon got to work, and fell into the task easily. Chasm, of course, sat nearby and watched the spectacle. "Ya know," Erin said in Chasm's direction, "this job is to make money to pay for your food as well."

            "This is not necessary," replied the umbreon. "I have already eaten today. Many people leave perfectly good fish simply lying around, and I didn't see the need for it to go to waste, that I didn't." Erin had the sinking feeling that stealing was included in there somewhere between the lines, but she didn't feel like explaining that concept to Chasm at that moment. She simply continued to scrub.

A few hours later, with plenty of resting now and again, the group was near finishing. The myriads of boxes were placed neatly in rows, the floors were scrubbed, and not a cobweb was in sight. All in all, Erin and Abadon felt fairly good about themselves and what they had accomplished. Chasm had not moved. One thing was left, and that was to dispose of one last small pile of trash, but at the moment, Erin did not feel like moving, so she simply sat down to rest. She took a deep breath and was about to close her eyes for a bit when Chasm stood to her feet. The umbreon crouched down with one leg forward and both eyes focused on the trash pile. Her eyes began to glow yellow as the umbreon hissed. The human and the Char, confused, looked first at each other and then to the pile of trash that had acquired all of Chasm's attention.

"What the…" Erin decided to leave that sentence hang unfinished, for right before her eyes, the garbage on the floor turned black and began to sink into the floor. No more than five seconds later, the Chasm's eyes were back to normal and she was once more sitting in the exact spot in which she had resided for the majority of that day. Erin now finished her sentence. "What the crap was that!?!"

"-That-, was how I dispose of unwanted trash," Chasm replied calmly. "All dark type pokemon are connected in some way to the Void. I sent the waste there. But do not worry, orange one," she said to Abadon, sensing his next question. "I am not able to use it against an opponent in battle, for the Void only accepts that which has no life." Erin then remembered the night of their meeting, and the battle between Abadon and Chasm and shivered. She was not the first human that the umbreon had attacked, and Chasm had made it clear that she did not leave survivors. The bodies had to have been put somewhere, for Chasm would not have allowed a human, even a dead one, to reside in the forest, and now she knew what had become of them. She shivered again.

Violently breaking the mood, Mr. Kline entered the room swiftly. "Wow!" he exclaimed, looking around at the work the three had accomplished. "This looks better than expected! Are you done? Great, then come out here and we'll get things settled." He exited the storeroom and reentered the main lobby of the shop, and the others followed, grateful for a change in scenery.

"It's already this late?" said Erin, glancing at the clock. It was already after noon. "We were in there for longer than I thought."

Mr. Kline was in the process of opening up the cash register. "Yes, you and your friends worked long and hard, so here is your reward." He handed Erin her payment. It was more than she had expected, and would last her for quite some time.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Kline!" Erin said in return, truly grateful. She jabbed Abadon in the ribs with her elbow.

"Yes, thank you," the Char said as a result. "We are glad that we could be of assistance. Chasm scoffed in reply.

Mr. Kline looked extremely thoughtful for a moment, and then walked pass them out the front door. "Please come with me. I have something else to give to you." Glancing momentarily at each other in question, Erin, Abadon, and Chasm followed him out the door an around the store to the back. He brought the three up to a pond, which, unlike the storeroom inside, was extremely well kept. In the water swam about twenty feebas. Erin had never seen a feebas before, let alone so many in one place at the same time. "Wow!" she remarked. "There are so many!"

Mr. Kline didn't reply. Instead, he studied the pond for a moment and then took out a light blue pokeball. Erin recognized as a lure ball from one of her classes. "Return!" he called, and one of the feebas was taken into the ball in the form of red light. Chasm and Abadon both lowered their brow in displeasure at this action, but before anything could be said, Mr. Kline turned toward Erin. "This feebas has been in my possession longer than any other. I have trained her and practiced with her for many, many years, and thus she is very dear to me, but I feel that if she stays here, she will not grow any stronger. I watched you with your pokemon today, and saw the bond that you share with them. I ask you to do me a favor and take her with you. She is strong, and I believe she will evolve soon, but not if she remains here."

Erin stood dumbfounded. Good lord, it was happening again. She had to be the youngest trainer in decades, not counting those that inherited pokemon from rich parents or family members. She truly did not know what to say. This morning she had felt hopeless and slightly alone, despite the company of the two pokemon. Now she had money to spare and in front of her was a man she barely knew who was offering her another pokemon. Things never ceased to amaze her. "Uh, sure, I'd be honored," was all that she finally managed to say. Erin lifted her arm to grasp the blue sphere in Mr. Kline's outstretched hand. "Thank you very much."

Erin thought she saw the traces of a tear in the eye of her one-day-employer, but he quickly turned away and walked briskly back to his store. "Yes, well, I'm sure you can find your way back to the street. It was nice meeting you." And then he was gone.

"Just like that?" Erin said, referring to the man's departure.

"Well, let's go," said Abadon in reply, walking past his human friend with Chasm following, leaving Erin standing where she was.

She finally snapped out of it and ran after the other two, pokeball in hand. "But everything happened so fast! We didn't even get to say goodbye!" There was no reply, so Erin simply sighed and continued her chase, attempting to fit the ball containing the unnamed feebas in her bag in the process. "Wait! You two don't even know where we're going!"

Chasm stopped and turned around. "If I am not mistaken, which I rarely am, you had no plan as to our destination either."

Erin realized that she was right. "Well then, let's go to the wharf. That way we'll be able to see the ocean, or at least a bay."

Abadon nodded and set off again. "To the ocean."

Erin fell into step beside him. "To the ocean."  


	15. Celeste

            The day had gone well and Erin was in a much lighter mood than that morning, and she had a right to be, concerning the circumstances and the turn of the day's events. The group had followed the street near the shop down toward the ocean, or what they had thought would be the ocean. As it turned out, the wharf was on a bay. On the horizon the land could be seen on either side, coming together to meet, yet falling a few miles short. Beyond that break in the land that circled the bay was the ocean. The difference in names didn't concern Erin however, for it was the same water as far as she was concerned. Toward the end of the day, the workers and tourists left to return home, but Erin had no home to return to, so she stayed. Normally, she would have searched the town to find a hotel to sleep in, but this was not her plan tonight. Across the water she could see a forest. It was away from any city and appeared moderately healthy, so Erin decided that they would camp out under the stars. Well, at least the stars that were bright enough to shine through the haze of pollution that covered the atmosphere. She would have Abadon fly them over there when the sun was almost down.

            At the moment, Abadon was enjoying the water. He was flying low over the waves so that a wake would emerge behind him, spraying up water in a line. He was quite a sight, and caught the attention of the few remaining people at the beach. Erin didn't like that wherever they went heads always turned and gossip began, simply because of her pokemon. Occasionally she thought that it would simply be easier to put them in pokeballs, like the feebas, but she would never do such a thing unless they were all right with it, which they weren't.

            Chasm did not seem to be too fond of the water, as well as the air, so she sat by Erin's side. Erin sat at edge of the dock with her feet dangling in the open air above the water below. At the moment she was talking to Professor Chronal, who was more excited than ever at her journey. He had said that he had indeed brushed up on his Pokemon Speech and wished once more to talk to the 'What's-his-name-the-Charmeleon' and apologize for their earlier conversation. Erin had to explain that not calling him by his name, which was Abadon, would insult him even more, and that he was no longer a charmeleon, but a charizard. Because of this, she had to explain, not in detail of course, the way they met Chasm, and then introduce her. Abadon forgave him, Chasm lost her interest, and so Erin was able to tell him about the feebas. Finally though, they said their goodbyes and then signed off. Erin did not put the pokedex away however, instead she switched over to the database and looked up the information on feebas. She didn't know much about the pokemon, for it was one that was often looked over by professors and scientists who deemed it dull and unimportant.

            Erin reached into her bag and took out the pokeball containing her newest addition to the team. She pointed it toward the water and pressed the button on the front. A red light shot out and reached the salty ocean below, retracting and leaving a feebas in its place. "Are you my new trainer?" she asked Erin, eyes unblinking.

            "Uh, yes, I am," Erin replied. "But if you don't want me to be, I'll take you back to Mr. Kline." She noticed Chasm eying the feebas hungrily and shooed her away.

            "No, he gave me to you. Therefore, you are my new owner."

            Erin was slightly uncomfortable being referred to as the pokemon's owner and told her so. "Let's just refer to each other as friends instead, okay?"

            This seemed to confuse the feebas; she had had an owner for as long as she could remember, but she wanted to make Erin happy, for she was her owner now, so she agreed. Erin now pointed the pokedex at the feebas. "Because of its shoddy appearance, this pokemon is largely ignored.While feebas' body is in tatters, it has a hardy and tenacious life force that enables it to live anywhere. However, this pokemon is also slow and dimwitted, making it an easy catch."

            "I'm not sure, but I think that machine wasn't being all that nice," the feebas said with a tilt of her head.

            Erin laughed nervously. "It's all right; the others didn't like what it said about them either." She then accessed the data that the pokedex had on Milotic, feebas' evolution.

            "Milotic is said to be the most beautiful of all the pokemon. It has the power to becalm such emotions as anger and hostility and to quell bitter feuding.Milotic live at the bottom of large lakes. When this pokemon's body glows a vivid pink, it releases a pulsing wave of energy that brings soothing calm to restless spirits."

            The feebas nodded. "That seemed nicer. I forgive the machine."

            "That's good to know," said Erin. "But what do I call you? Mr. Kline just called you feebas; what's your name?"

            The fish pokemon tilted her head the other way. "I don't have a name. I didn't think I was allowed to have one. The man just called all of us Feebas."

            "Well, the other two have names, so it wouldn't be fair if you didn't have one. Do you have any ideas?" The feebas just stared back and didn't reply, seemingly not understanding. "O…k… Well," thought Erin, looking toward the sky (and away from the feebas' unblinking eyes), as if the answer would come from heaven. "How about Celeste? It doesn't seem to fit you now, but once you evolve, I think it'll be great." Erin smiled at the water pokemon, happy about her choice and hoping the feebas felt the same, only to see that she had not moved and continued to stare at her new 'trainer'. "Right, so, Celeste it is then."

            "Is that your pokemon?" came a voice from behind Erin.

            She had not heard anyone approaching her, and even though she had been in conversation with 'Celeste', she took it as an insult to her martial arts training. It was not this person's fault however, and mentally told herself to be more aware. She turned to look behind her and saw an exceptionally handsome young man who looked a few years older than her with dark brown hair and a small goatee of the same color standing behind her with his hands in his pockets. Erin blushed and smiled. Realizing that she had just been asked a question, she answered uncomfortably. "Uh, yes. Yeah, she is. Heh."

            "A feebas, huh? That's pretty cool. They aren't too much to look at until they evolve, but they can still get pretty strong. Wanna battle?"

            The question had come so unexpectedly that Erin was taken off guard. She looked around, but neither Abadon nor Chasm were in sight. "With Celeste?" she asked, starting to lift herself off the wooden boards of the dock so she could better have a conversation with this new kid.

            He reached down to help and Erin smiled feebly. "Well yeah, unless you have another pokemon."

            "Actually, I do, they're just not around right now. Celeste is the only water pokemon I have though."

            "That's great. A water pokemon would be best to battle against anyway," he said, taking out a pokeball from a pocket in his pants. "You said you have other pokemon? That's awesome! Did you catch them?"

            He seemed genuinely interested in what Erin had to say, and this made her feel comfortable around him. "Sort of."

            "Geyser, come on out!" he said, raising the arm holding the pokeball. A corphish appeared in front of him. "This is my only pokemon, but he's strong. Did you know that corphish aren't originally from this region? They were brought here as pets but then some got loose and mass populated. This one's Geyser. I was surprised to find someone else who names their pokemon."

            "Uh, yeah, I did. I learned it in my Water Pokemon class at the Academy," Erin answered.

            The boy glanced in her direction. "You went to an Academy? That's cool; so did I. I was on the swim team, so when I graduated, I got Geyser here. I've been battling him a lot lately, 'cause I think he'll evolve soon. That would be so cool to have a Crawdaunt." He paused and there was an awkward silence. "Well, let's get to it. Geyser! That feebas is your opponent!" Then he turned to Erin. "Ready?" She nodded in reply. "All right. Geyser! Vicegrip!"

            The corphish dove in the water after Celeste and had her between his claws before Erin could even react. The feebas did nothing but squirm.

            "Celeste! Harden!" called Erin, and immediately a polish was seen over the fish pokemon. Geyser's claws could do no more damage. He released and waited for his trainer's next instruction.

            "Crabhammer!" Erin's opponent yelled. The corphish darted for Celeste, claws raised.

            'Wow,' thought Erin. 'He's fast.' "Water pulse!" she called in return. Geyser was thrown back by the force of the water pounding at him from beneath the waves. Erin had been lucky so far, but she didn't know how much Mr. Kline had taught his feebas. How many more attacks would she call before there was one that Celeste didn't know? She could only cross her fingers and hope.

            "Geyser, try Crabhammer again!"

            "Celeste, do Hydro Pump!" The fish pokemon opened her mouth to let loose a giant gush of water… yet nothing happened. "Aw, shit," said Erin as Celeste was thrown from the water. It seemed as though this was an attack that she did not know.

            The boy looked at her sideways, his respect for her as an opponent deteriorating. "How could you not know what attacks you've taught your pokemon?"

            Erin didn't look at him, but watched as Celeste fell back down toward the sea. "She wasn't mine until today. She was given to me as a gift."

            "Oh," he said, respect returning. "Then you must be a good trainer to be able to battle her this well this early." Erin blushed.

            "Thanks," she said meekly. "Wait, what's that?" She pointed to the corphish, who was turning a lighter shade, almost as if he was beginning to glow. She had seen this before…

            "He's evolving!" yelled the brown haired boy. Of course, that's where she had seen it before. Abadon had glowed like that right before he evolved into a charizard. Wow, this was awesome! Wait, no it wasn't. Celeste was having a tough time against a corphish; she wouldn't stand a chance against a Crawdaunt. Crap.

            Celeste had now regained her senses, but Geyser's trainer wouldn't let that last for long. "Geyser!" he called, looking overjoyed. "Icebeam!"

            "Celeste! Agility!" But it was too late. Geyser was simply too fast for the feebas, and before she could move, he had released a bright blue beam from within his claws that shot directly for Celeste. She was caught in the beam and was pushed backward from force and downward from weight as the ice from the beam surrounded her. Eventually, the feebas was too far down to see, for the ocean floor was dark, and night was setting over the land. The battle was lost.

             Geyser rose to the surface and seemed incredibly pleased with himself. "Wow, that was great." The boy said, turning to Erin and smiling. "Oh, by the way, my name is Ryan; nice to meet you. I hope your feebas will be all right. Celeste, was it?"

            "My name's Erin," she said, shaking his hand and blushing again. "I'm sure she'll be fine, and yes, it is Celeste, thanks."

At that moment Geyser splashed to get the attention of the two humans and said, "Hey boss, I think something's happening." He glanced down into the water where Celeste had fallen and the others followed his gaze. Yes, something was indeed happening. In the depths below the water's surface was emerging a single point of light. At least, that's what it was in the beginning. It quickly grew to fill the whole shore and was so bright it appeared to be high noon on the docks once more. The waves thrashed and Geyser backed away as best he could. Something large was coming toward the surface, and he didn't want to be in its way. The light died down and the surface broke to a giant head that was connected to a long, snakelike body. Celeste had evolved.

Ryan's eyes widened and his jaw fell open. "Holy crap."

"You're tellin' me," replied Erin. "That certainly didn't take long." The two of them stood gaping at the giant milotic as the milotic simply gazed back. Finally, Erin snapped out of it. "Celeste! Hail!" Celeste lowered her head and closed her majestic eyes. The sky quickly darkened and she let out an eerie, yet somehow beautiful, wail as she turned her head skyward. Soon, too soon for Ryan or Geyser to do anything about it, giant rocks of frozen water fell from the clouds over the makeshift battle field. They never touched Celeste, but Geyser could not escape their onslaught. This time, the battle was over for good.

Ryan recalled his pokemon into its pokeball and turned toward Erin once more. "That battle was awesome! Both our pokemon evolved! I can't think of a time that's ever happened before. I'll remember this day for as long as I live." Erin hoped he would.

"Me too; it was great." Just then a large orange and black lizard landed on the dock behind Erin.

"Whoa," said Ryan, taken off guard. He stepped back out of surprise and tripped over a break in the wood. He flailed his arms and was in the process of falling over the edge into the water when Abadon reached out his hand to grab Ryan's.

"I know I'm frightening, but I didn't think I was that intimidating," he said, helping the human to his feet with as sly grin. Erin nudged the Char with her elbow.

Chasm chose this moment to make an appearance as well. "Can we leave now?" she asked, slinking along the ground toward the group.

"Wow, you have two other pokemon? No wonder you're such a great trainer." For about the tenth time that afternoon, Erin blushed and looked anywhere but at Ryan. "It was nice to meet you Erin, and I hope our paths cross again." He walked back from the way he had come.

Erin smiled and sighed. "Me too."

"Hey Erin," said Abadon, giving her a shove. "Are we going to leave yet or not? There was so much action over here that no one could help but notice, and I don't want to be in the middle of a gaping crowd." Chasm, for once, agreed with him. Erin nodded, seeing the sense in this and called Celeste over to where they were standing. She asked the milotic if she would carry them (-them- being Erin and Chasm, for the Char could fly) across the water to the site she had noticed earlier so they could make camp and go to sleep.

"Well of course," Celeste replied. "You are my trainer. I will do whatever you bid me." At some point in the near future, not now of course for Erin was too tired, but sometime soon, she would have to explain to Celeste about free will.

Chasm declined the offer Erin made about riding that close to the water, and then the offer Abadon made of flying too far away from the water. She said that she would walk around and meet up with them sometime in the night. Erin knew better than to argue. And so, they were off: each in their own way: Chasm walking, Abadon flying, Celeste swimming, and Erin riding. They reached the opposite shore and Erin set up camp, allowing the milotic to be out of her pokeball for the night, until they would have to travel over land the next day. The three were soon fast asleep, all dreaming sweet dreams. Chasm did indeed join them sometime in the night, for when Erin awoke the umbreon was asleep nearby.

A/N – Well, that was fast. Another chapter already. is pleased I hope you enjoy my story and will continue to read it. And most importantly, review. For it is the reviews from which I feed. It is those that give me the strength and the inspiration to keep writing. Either that, or they just make me feel good. Yea, probably that one.

Anyway, my good pal Keleri has begun a new fic called Gods and Demons and it's really really good, so all of you need to go read it. And review it. Because us authors like reviews. Myep.


	16. Wellneeded Rest

The air was cool and refreshing, and the breeze that blew in from the nearby bay was tinted with salt and tickled the nose of the large Char that was sleeping soundly. The smell of the salt-tainted air woke him up at this time, however. He blinked slowly, getting a bearing on his surroundings and yawned loudly as he raised himself up off the ground. He glanced around to take in the view. It was already well into morning, and the others were not immediately within sight. Upon further inspection however, he spotted a large snake-like shadow moving carefully beneath the waves in the deeper part of the water. He turned his head to the left and saw the human who he had come to call friend a ways down the beach. The Charizard stood up and walked in her direction.

She was wearing kaki colored cargo pants with a black tank top and had her hair pulled up in a ponytail. She didn't have on any shoes or socks, but instead let her toes feel their way in the finely ground sand beneath her feet. He stopped to watch her for a while, for she was deep in concentration while practicing some martial arts moves. The human would slowly raise her straitened leg while staring hard at her foot, breathing in deeply and out in short puffs. She slowly brought her leg around and then quickly changed position to fiercely jab with the base of both hands and kick with her other foot. The Char did not want to disturb her, but at this moment she stopped, smiled, and waved him over.

"Hey, Abadon," the human girl said, catching her breath. "Took you long enough to wake up."

"Hey, Erin," Abadon replied. "What's that you were doing?" He noticed that Chasm was sitting on a rock nearby and had been observing Erin while she trained.

"I was practicing. I haven't practiced at all since I left the academy and I didn't want to start getting rusty," she said in return. " I also thought that today would be the perfect day for you guys to train as well."

Abadon looked at her slyly. "What do you mean: train? I'm strong enough."

"Well of course you have brute strength down; no one could argue with you on that. I'm talking about strategy," Erin added in defense. "You said you wanted to travel with me to become stronger, and strategy is just the way to do this. Don't worry," she said, noting the fire pokemon's skeptical look. "Chasm will be joining us as well."

Abadon smiled in Chasm's direction. "Ha ha, you got dragged into this too."

Chasm simply glared. "I volunteered to train with Erin. I thought it would be interesting to see what tips that the human could give me. I certainly didn't think that it would hinder me, that I didn't."

Abadon's earlier smirk turned into a scowl, irritated at he fact that he was unable to frustrate the umbreon.

Erin rolled her eyes. "Here's the way it is," she began. "It doesn't matter how strong a pokemon is if they don't have any strategy to incorporate into the battle and their opponent does. You can't rely on brute strength alone. The most basic thing that you learn in any martial arts class is that you always have to keep moving. No matter what, don't let your opponent catch you flat footed. Then you're an easy target to hit." To demonstrate this, Erin spread her legs and swayed back and forth on the balls of her feet. "That way, if they come from this direction," she said, motioning with her arm and swaying farther to the right, "you can just go to opposite direction with almost no effort on your part. You can move your feet around sometimes too, like this, so you're not completely immobile, and it still doesn't really take that much energy, yet it keeps your opponent guessing. You try now." While she continued her 'dance', she motioned for Abadon to begin.

The Char glanced down at his feet and positioned them accordingly. Chars didn't usually rely on speed while they were on the ground, since their bulky bodies didn't allow for speed like that of a scizor, but it certainly couldn't hurt to practice. That way, like Erin said, he could take his opponents by surprise. A speedy Char wasn't something you saw everyday. But then again, not many people saw a Char at all. He began to sway back and forth as he had seen Erin do, while keeping his arms up in a defensive position to block from any possible attacks, or for him to attack after slipping out of the way of an enemy.

Chasm's take on this procedure would differ slightly. As a feline-like pokemon, she was able to tense up the muscles in her legs to leap out of the way at a seconds notice. She certainly had better reaction time than Abadon, but that's why they were training.

Next, Erin had them try some of the steps and motions that she had been practicing earlier. Chasm picked up the movements strait off and adapted them to her own, since the center balance of her body was different from that of Erin and Abadon. She was used to focusing her mind on a certain thought and carrying it out, since that was what is required of her when she attempts a dark-type attack. Abadon was having a bit more trouble, but was catching on quickly enough. It would take a few more practice sessions before he fully understood the complete focus that it would take, but he picked up the movements fast enough. In the end, Erin would teach him how to focus on a single attack while being aware of his opponent's plans and movements. As a pokemon, he already had this as an innate nature to some extent, but Erin, as a trainer, would help him to bring this out in a dynamic manner.

Erin didn't know how long it would take them to get to the next town or city, but that was mostly because she didn't know where a city was around here. There wasn't a path near their camp, so the only way to find out would be to go back to the port town they had left the day before. Erin didn't want to do that, but she didn't care how long the three; no, sorry, _four_ of them, had to travel, because they could train along the way. This was what Erin had always dreamed of while she was at the academy: trekking through a forest or field (or what was left of the two) and training her pokemon. She had always told herself that she would train them _her_ way, not the Academy's way. She would take the good points that she learned from them, but then she would re-create and mold them to fit her style. So far, it seemed to be working.

"Good job," she was telling Abadon. "Your stance is already improving. You're a quick learner. Now let's focus on more advanced movements."

Abadon stood still while Erin moved his arms and showed him the best ways to defend should certain scenarios occur. Most of the time she would stand by and show him how to carry out a move or block, but sometimes she would test how much Abadon remembered and would act as an adversary in mock attack. She would begin slow but then increase her speed when she thought he could keep up. He truly was a fast learner and quickly adapted the moves to his bulk so he would be able to use them efficiently. Either that, or Erin was simply a good teacher. Chasm would have voted with the latter, rather than admit that Abadon was worth anything in battle.

Sooner than was expected, it was time for lunch and a well-deserved break. Erin, followed closely by Abadon and Chasm, walked with heavy feet over to their camp, which was on the edge of the forest where the grass met the sand. She sat down with a huff and stretched out on the ground. They were tired, but they all felt content, like they had all accomplished something worthwhile and had bettered themselves. Suddenly, Erin sat up with a thought.

"Hey, my birthday's in a few days!" she said. In the depressing and then exciting turn of events that had begun ever since she left the academy, she had completely forgotten! "I'll be seventeen four days from now. At school, that would be the legal age that I would be allowed to carry a Trainers License, saying that I had graduated from a respectable Academy and therefore knew more about pokemon than other trainers that simply happened to find a pokemon that was weak enough to be captured." She stated this last part sarcastically.

"Does going to that school really let you know more about pokemon than those who do not attend?" asked Chasm.

"Technically, I guess they do. Because of the classes, students know about pokemon types and the strengths and weaknesses that go along with them. Some are obvious of course, but there are those that are complicated. But we don't just learn about the types, we are taught how and why they work the way they do. It's the same way with the other classes. When studying about certain pokemon, we learn their history and the main points that have happened to the species throughout the ages. There's so much more to learn about pokemon that no one would ever learn by simply traveling.

"But then the opposite is true as well. There's much more to learn about pokemon than what I would discover just sitting in a classroom all day. There's people and experiences and friends that I would never come across if I never got out into the world." She hesitated for a second. "I want to thank you guys for traveling with me. I would never have made it this far without your support, even if I'm not your trainer." Chasm nodded her head and Abadon smiled in return.

"Why do you use that red device, the pokedex, if you already know about pokemon?" the umbreon asked, raising her head.

"Professor Chronal created this pokedex from one that he found, or was given by an associate," she said, taking the item in question from her bag to examine it. "He downloaded the information from that one to this, and then got it to stabilize after many tweaks to it's hard drive. He told me that there was so much information gathered on that one machine that he wondered how it could contain it all on its limited hard drive. This one is much more advanced. He said that the person who had that pokedex saw more pokemon than the average person. I know a lot about pokemon, but there's so much knowledge that has been lost as well." Erin put the pokedex back in her bag and rested her head on the soft grass, watching the clouds move across the sky. "Many have become extinct or are simply never seen anymore. Some died out so long ago that we don't have any surviving records of them, so their information is gone forever. But this pokedex might have some of that lost information, so it would be a goldmine to any researcher. I guess I should look through the database and see if there are any recorded that I don't know about."

Then she yawned and rolled on her side. "I'll do it later though. Now it's time to take a nap."

Because of the intensive training they had all endured, Abadon and Chasm joined Erin in her afternoon nap, and all quickly fell asleep.

Erin yawned without fully waking, and didn't open her eyes. She was conscious enough however, to realize that a breeze had picked up during the time she had been wandering dreamland. But there was something unnerving about the wind; it didn't move as normal wind did. This breeze she felt blowing against her face for no more than five seconds, and then it stopped, only to pick up again five seconds later to repeat the cycle. Erin finally opened her eyes, if only out of curiosity. What she saw startled her, but she quickly broke into a grin and laughed. Celeste had snaked her way onto the shore and was resting her massive head on the ground directly in front of Erin's. It was the milotic's breath that Erin had took for a breeze. The pokemon was so huge that it was almost uneasy to be so near to her, but Erin didn't mind.

"What's up, Celeste?" Erin asked, still on the ground.

Without lifting her head, Celeste looked toward the sky. "There appears to be clouds, but not much else," was her answer, though not the one Erin was looking for.

Erin chuckled and sat up, fixing her hair and waking up Abadon. Chasm had awoken during their conversation, short though it was. "We're off again guys," Erin said cheerily. She patted Celeste's head while reaching for her pokeball, which the milotic obviously enjoyed. Though Milotic could survive on land for a time, moving their body as would an arbok or seviper, they were much more at home in the water and would not enjoy slithering through a forest. "Ready?" she asked her. Celeste nodded and was then pulled into the pokeball by a tiny red laser. Erin placed the ball in her pocket, put on her shoes, and walked into the woods, followed closely by her other companions.

After about a hundred meters the grass and trees became scarcer, much like the forest Erin had traveled through when she first met Abadon, though she had not known his name at the time. The green of leaves and bushes became slightly less green and slightly grayer, and did not hold the life that they once did. They were not dead, but were sickly, and had been that way for close to a century.

Later that day, and in the days that followed, Erin and her team frequently stopped to train and practice. Abadon learned to have a quick eye and was therefore able to spot an attack and react faster than one would normally think such a bulky pokemon would be capable of. Chasm learned new skills as well, and gave Erin slightly more respect because of her skill knowledge of fighting. On the night of the third day, they could see light shining through the night, and realized that a city, a large one by the looks of things, was close by, and that they would most likely reach it the next day. Things seemed promising, but then again, things are not always what they seem…

A/N - This chapter took a bit longer than the last two, but that's because school just started and I haven't had much free time. Five AP courses will zap all your free time right out of you. TT

_Anyway, thanks for reading, and I please review! A major plot twist will make itself known shortly… Mwahaha_


	17. A Fight Enseus

_A/N: Hello my readers, and welcome to the seventeenth installment of 'Wings of Flame'. Thank you to those who have stayed with me this long. Thank you for reviewing; your comments really do make a difference. One person's reply made me rethink the pace of my story and I stretched it out a bit and added more of a plot, so don't be afraid to add critiques as well. As some of you have said, the last chapter was mainly a filler, but I needed it to get to this chapter, so it's all good. This chapter is kind of heavy in one part, and things might stay sort of heavy for a while, but they will get better! There will also be some language in this chapter, but the words are covered up by censor tape that looks like this: [censored]. Some language I don't mind putting in my stories, but then there are times where 'crap' is just too light, but I don't actually want to write down the other words. That's where censor tape comes in handy. All right now, carry on._

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Erin awoke in the woods in the early morning, ready to begin her day. She stretched her arms wide to relieve the night's fatigue and yawned deeply as she regained consciousness. Abadon stirred and awoke as well. Chasm, as usual, was already alert and fed.

"Congratulations," the umbreon said, though there was no joy in her words. Erin raised an eyebrow in question. "This is the seventeenth anniversary of the day of your birth, is it not? That is what you told us four days ago."

Erin's face broke into a smile that, had there been any other humans around, would have been contagious. "You're right!" she said happily as she stood up and began to get her things together. "I'm seventeen today! We should celebrate. When we get to the city we'll…" Here she trailed off, thinking. "Well, I can't think of anything now, but we'll do something special. Maybe I'll buy us cake."

Had Erin been in the same predicament that she was when she left her school, she birthday would have been quite lonely. As it were, she had made good friends since then and this day was a joyous one.

The group finished packing and set off once more, headed toward the city. Erin led the way and Abadon and Chasm followed close behind. Still looking forward, to make sure Erin did not catch him, Abadon bent his head lower and whispered to Chasm.

"Why is a birthday so special?"

She shrugged, obviously indifferent about the whole subject. "There are many things about the humans that I don't comprehend. It makes no difference to me whether it makes her happy or not, that it doesn't," she whispered back.

"As long as we get cake, I think I like birthdays too."

Chasm sighed.

"Whoa!" cried Erin suddenly, jumping back in surprise and almost back-stepping into the others. Abadon and Chasm both dashed up beside her for protection, but as it turned out, there was no need for it. What had startled Erin was a pair of tiny pokemon that had scampered in front of her quickly, startling the human. They were playing with each other and didn't seem to care about their watchers' existence. "I've never seen those pokemon; I wonder what they are!" she said, gently taking the pokedex out of one of the pockets in her pants so as not to startled the pokemon. They were small, yellow, and almost identical, except one had orange markings on its ears and tail, and the other had blue. "They're so small, I bet they don't even come up to my knees," Erin stated while opening up the device and turning it on. "They almost look like tiny pikachu; how odd."

As with the others, a holographic image of the pokemon in front of them appeared above the pokedex. "Plusle and Minun. Rarely seen apart, as the negative and positive charges that their bodies create balance out the other. No further information."

"No more information?" said Erin. "That's odd. Maybe they're newly discovered pokemon, and the professor didn't know anything else about them to download into the 'dex." She then bent down too observe the two as they continued to play with each other. "Makes sense, I guess, because we've never studied those in school." Then the plusle and the minun ran off and were out of sight to quickly to observe further. Erin sighed out of disappointment because the opportunity was over, but was elated that she had been able to see them at all. "I wonder why they look so much like the pichu evolutions," she said to herself.

Though the question was rhetorical, Chasm had never been too good at staying out of the personal life of others. "I believe it is the pichu's way of "keeping up with the times", if I may use a human expression. They have had to change themselves in order to survive. They are not still pichu, but something else entirely."

Erin glanced back at the umbreon but soon watched the ground before her again. Sometimes the insight that that pokemon had was unnerving. Oh well, it still seemed like a fairly accurate assumption. Maybe she would ask Chronal about it sometime.

The group continued to walk for some time, and most of it was taken in silence. They made conversation here and there, but it was never prolonged. Eventually, they came upon the base of the Old City. The first city that Erin and Abadon had entered was not the only city with an ancient outer rim full of rundown buildings and shops; in fact, most cities had them, and this one was no exception. If anything, it was more depressing than the last. The very sky above them seemed to darken to play up the mood and Erin knew that if there was ever a time that the three needed to be silent, it was now. The journey through this part of the town would be the roughest, and Erin wanted no trouble.

The complete outer layer of the Old City was nothing more than ruins and rubble. There were no longer any buildings of any kind to speak of. It appeared as if a bomb had been dropped and leveled everything within a two-mile radius. To cross and get to the other side, the group had to climb over large boulders and scale areas of fallen walls. As they explored the easiest route over the debris, they began to travel farther and farther from each other. Soon, Erin looked up and couldn't spot either of her pokemon companions. Chasm she could understand, because she was so small that any hill would conceal her body, but Erin couldn't even spot Abadon. She looked forward, sighed, and began to trek forward once more. They would all find her eventually…

"Hello there."

Erin spun around quickly, almost tripping over a loose stone in her surprise. She had just passed a large concrete wall that had only half-fallen and was now leaning at a diagonal angle. Behind this wall stood a kid who looked only a few years older than Erin herself. He had dusty blonde hair and at first glance, a welcoming and friendly nature. Then he began to walk toward her and his smile twisted into a grimace. He did not seem so friendly any more.

"Little girls shouldn't walk through dangerous parts of the city by themselves; they might get hurt. Here," he said, stretching out his hand, "let me help you." The kid didn't appear completely coherent and stumbled in the wreckage beneath his feet. Erin noted that he was probably high on some form of drug and wouldn't remember this encounter at all in a few hours. That still didn't excuse his behavior.

"No thanks," she replied, turning back around to leave.

"Now, that's not a very nice way to treat my friend after he's offered to help you."

Erin halted her steps. Without her knowledge another person, this time a man a few years older than the other, had blocked her path from the front while she had been talking with the blonde haired boy.

"I really think you should be taught a lesson in manners." He began to walk toward her as well.

Erin stepped back into a defensive stance and the second man, whose hair was shaved close to his head, only snickered. He reached for her face and she batted his hand away and swiftly punched him in the jaw. He was not expecting that and stumbled backward while holding the side of his face where he had been hit. He looked at Erin angrily and moved his hand toward his pocket. Erin's eyes widened and panic shot through her body. Was he reaching for a gun!?!

What the man pulled out of his pocket calmed her heart but spiked her interest: a pokeball. Then she heard a sickening _crack_ from behind her. She had forgotten about the blonde boy! Turning swiftly, she saw there was no need for alarm. The boy had lost touch with what meager reality he had held onto and had fallen, hitting his head on a rock. There was blood and no movement. "Oh my god…" Erin said, rotating her head back to look at her other opponent.

The man with the pokeball was looking at the boy he had referred to as his friend. "Stupid [censored]." He looked back at Erin and she could see there was no compassion in his eyes, only anger. "You're going down," he said to her, throwing the pokeball. "You may be able to hit me, but pokemon are born to fight, and you can't defend yourself against them!" In front of him appeared a poochynea. It was already growling as the dim glow from the red laser disappeared. "Poochynea!" he called, pointing at Erin, "Attack! Use Bite!"

The pokemon needed no more encouragement as it dashed toward Erin with bloodlust in its eyes. The man was right though; once it attacked, Erin would not be able to defend herself. It lunged and Erin tried to run but lost her footing in the rubble and almost fell, but caught herself at the last moment. In a split second she glanced up to see the face of an airborne poochynea directly in front of her eyes. It was foaming at the mouth and only had one thing on its mind: _kill_. She knew she was doomed, but then it was gone. Suddenly her view was clear, but her ears heard everything, and Erin glanced down toward her right to see her opponent's poochynea picking itself up off the ground after a hard body slam at top speed from an exceptionally angry umbreon.

Chasm had heard the commotion and followed her sharp hearing to the source, only to see a group of people gang up on the one human who had ever shown her kindness. There were a number of people waiting behind the wreckage in this part of the city watching Erin and her conversation with the two punks. They were simply waiting for a signal to make themselves known. As if that weren't enough, Chasm then saw a man reveal a pokemon only to have him attack Erin. That was not the least bit noble, and at the moment the only thing on her mind was the death of this pokemon.

Erin watched on in awe and slight fear. She knew Chasm was strong, and at the moment she could tell that the umbreon was rigid with anger, which would boost her dark type attacks, but there was something wrong with the poochynea. Erin had learned at the academy that poochynea would attack most any opponent that was their size or smaller to get in the first strikes, but if their adversary began to fight back, the dark type mutt would be the first to back off. This one did no such thing. It didn't appear as if it was quite right in it's mind either. As it watched Chasm and braced itself for an attack, its whole body twitched, and the foam in its mouth continued to stream. This pokemon had rabies, and it's trainer not only refused to take it to a Pokecenter, but also still continued to use it in battle! That was unthinkable!

Erin's opponent must have decided that now was a good time to call out his companions, for he created a loud whistle that pierced the air, and about ten other people, both men and women who were all about his age, made themselves known. He didn't know where the umbreon had come from, but he was determined that neither it nor Erin would leave that day alive. Each member of his gang had a pokemon of his or her own, most of which had also become demented in one way or another. And all at once, they released their pokemon. There was a vibrava, who Erin knew could flap their wings fast enough to cause supersonic vibrations. There was also a misdreavus, which were good for nothing more than playing practical jokes. There were a number of other pokemon, and Erin knew facts about each one, but facts would not help her once they attacked.

Suddenly, Chasm was beside her once again. The umbreon was seething with anger and had blood on her paws and snout. Erin stole a glance in the direction of the pokemon's former battle and quickly looked away. It was not a pretty sight.

The poochynea's owner had seen the outcome as well. "Why you little [censored]! I'm gonna' rip you apart! Attack!" This order seemed to be for the other pokemon that had recently appeared, because they dashed forward as one.

Chasm dove for another as a pillar of fire exploded from the sky, encompassing one pokemon and causing the others to falter. Abadon appeared beside her, nearly as angry as Chasm, as stood in front of Erin so as to protect her. The pokemon attacked and Abadon countered. He used his claws, teeth, flamed tail, and scorching fire that came from the pit of his stomach as weapons. At one point, there were three smaller pokemon bounding up the wreckage in front of him.

"Rushing Magma!" screamed Erin.

In reply, the Char opened his mouth as wide as was possible and appeared to puke all over his attackers. Of course, it was scalding lava instead of his breakfast, but that doesn't take away from the thought. Two of the three pokemon were wounded, possibly mortally so. Erin knew that eventually, one of her friends, if not herself, would be harmed, and she did not want that to happen. She noted the position of most of the enemy and decided that if she was going to do something that now was as good a time as any. She reached into her pocket and brought out Celeste's pokeball. Erin pointed the ball into the air and released before covering her head and screaming at her companions to 'think fast'.

Celeste appeared overhead and proceeded to fall downward, as is what usually happens when gravity decides to be present. She ended up landing on top of most of the rest of the attacking pokemon, and one or two humans as well, though that was unintentional. She seemed slightly shocked to be called out of the pokeball, only to land on sharp rocks rather than in an ocean, and glanced around for a moment while the other gang members overcame their shock. Erin reached for the pokeball once more to retract the milotic now that her job had been completed and stretched out her hand. As she did this, as searing pain swept through Erin's right arm and she was knocked down to the ground.

Chasm came to the rescue and tore a linoose from Erin's arm. Though a linoose's teeth aren't long, they are sharp and are capable of drawing blood. Erin cried out in pain and held her right arm to her chest as she reached with her left for the dropped pokeball. She climbed to her feet and retracted Celeste while running for Abadon. "Chasm!" she called, beckoning for the umbreon to join her.

Abadon bent lower as Erin climbed haphazardly onto his neck. Chasm jumped into Erin's lap and within three beats of his mighty wings, the Char was airborne and darting away from the commotion. In a matter of seconds the group was out of sight of the dangerous street gang and in less that a minute they were on the border of the New City.

"You can put us down here, Abadon," said Erin, clasping her bleeding arm with her whole one.

The Char did as she said and Chasm was on the ground even before Erin could begin to climb off. Erin ripped off her backpack and searched through it for the emergency First Aid kit that Professor Chronal had insisted she bring with her. Now, Erin had never actually had the need to bandage a bleeding arm before, so she wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do, but she did the best she could. The best she could being: dumping a forth of a bottle of disinfectant over her arm, squeezing some sort of healing gel onto it, then wrapping it in medical tape, all in a short amount of time. It didn't look too pretty, but it got the job done. Once her arm was tightly wrapped, Erin could finally sit back and breathe to let her heart settle down and slow its beat.

"That was close," she said.

"You're telling me," said Abadon. "If I hadn't heard that guy cussing so loud, I-"

"No, I mean, that was _real_ close. We could have _died_ tonight, Abadon. We were lucky." She glanced at Chasm, who was at the moment licking a cut on her shoulder to cleanse it. "Here, let me get that," Erin said, reaching for the umbreon with the rag she had used to quickly wipe away any blood from her arm. Surprisingly, Chasm let Erin help her. Erin cleaned her few cuts and wiped the blood from her small black form: blood that was not her own. After that, Erin checked out Abadon in the same way.

"Why don't we just find a Pokecenter?" asked the Char.

"Pokecenters are evil," Erin replied. "We don't go to Pokecenters anymore. No good can come from them." She said this in a lighthearted mood, because the last, and only, two centers that the group had visited ended in disaster. When she was done Erin put away her supplies, put on her backpack, stuffed her hands into her pockets, and walked down the sidewalk toward the center of the city. "All right, now let's see what there is to do in this town…"

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_A/N: I hope this wasn't too intense for you guys, but the main part of my plot (the part that's been gurgling in my brain for the longest and will give more background on some things) will come in the next few chapters. I had actually planned for it to start during this chapter, but the fight went longer than I expected. And please tell me if you think anything should be changed/ made better/ totally redone/ etc. because I promise I pay attention._

_Thank you and hopefully the next update will come sooner!_

_Also, I have another story that I have started, if you would be so kind to go check it out and review there as well. It's called Death and Rebirth, and is a digimon fic. It's off to a shaky start, but then again most stories start off shaky, so it's all good. If you would read this I would really appreciate it._

_AND! The next update will also come with a picture. Whoot!_


	18. Within Lilnith

She hated the staring. She really couldn't stand it. In just a short amount of time, she had grown to hate it. Staring meant she was drawing attention, and she had always wanted to be left alone.

Erin sighed and tried to shrug it off. At the moment Abadon, Chasm, and herself were sitting at a table on the patio of a bakery. Erin had bought herself and Abadon each a piece of cake. Chasm had refused. She had already had one hell-of-a morning to her birthday, and she would rather not let the passer-bys irk her further. Though with a bandaged hand and two pokemon, she certainly was a sight.

"It feels nice to sit down and rest without having a pack of psychos try and kill you, huh?" Erin asked with her head back so she could look at the sky.

Abadon replied by eating what was left of his cake and nodding in her general direction, and Chasm didn't bother to reply at all. Erin soon finished her birthday treat to herself and stood up to throw away her trash as well as Abadon's.

"I suppose we better get going then, right?" she asked, not expecting an answer. She didn't wait for one either, as she swung her bag over her shoulder and set off. Erin's pace was slow and unrushed, because there was nothing specific the group had to accomplish and she might as well take in the sights. This time Abadon took the lead. He was still in a slightly protective mood and wanted to make sure that no further harm would come to his friends. They had passed a sign when they first entered the New City that told them it went by the name of Lilnith. It wasn't exactly the easiest name to say in conversation, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Erin had no sooner turned the first corner when a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind. "Hey!"

Still jumpy from their earlier encounter, she turned swiftly and easily knocked his hand away, at the same time grabbing it and twisting it behind her offender's back. She was about to wrap her free arm around his neck to complete the hold when she realized that she recognized his voice. "Ryan?" she asked, quickly releasing his appendage and stepping back.

"Gods, that was fast. What are you, some kind of government assassin?" Ryan, the friend Erin had made earlier in the week while battling, was rubbing a now-sore arm and was looking at her like she was halfway to insanity.

Abadon and Chasm had swiveled, ready to pounce as well, but now saw that there was no need for it.

"Oh, gods, I'm sorry!" Erin said, frantically attempting to apologize. "It's just that we had sort of a rough morning and haven't calmed down completely yet and I'm so sorry if I hurt you!" All of this was said extremely quickly with no time for a breath.

"No, it's okay, really. I didn't remember your name right away; it's Erin, right; and I kept waving and calling 'hey', but you didn't hear me," Ryan began. He then spotted her bandaged forearm. "What happened to you?"

Erin sighed. "It's a long story…"

"I've got nothin' better to do," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and straitening up. "You?" Erin couldn't think of anything, so she consented. She actually didn't mind spending more time with her new friend. "Alright, but first: where did you learn that move? You know, the one that almost _killed_ me."

They found a bench near an area that was supposed to be a park, but looked more like the forest outside of town: dark and empty; and sat down. Erin first told Ryan that she had learned martial arts at her academy, and was most likely the best in her classification.

Ryan was impressed. "So you're like a blackbelt, right? Remind me not to get on your bad side."

Erin blushed and continued to tell him of her group's encounter with the gang in the Old City.

"Wow, you guys got lucky," he said, leaning back in his seat. "I know you might not like it, but the path you took was probably the safest. The only other way into New Lilnith would be through the Tunnels, and those are only safe if you're driving. That's why barely anybody travels in or out of their hometown anymore. Crazy, huh? You'd think the government would come and finally clear out all that crap in the outer rim of the city, but no such luck." He seemed genuinely concerned for her, and that made Erin smile. Ryan noted that she had a gorgeous smile.

"I'm kind of worried about Chasm though," she said, looking back at the umbreon. "She fought with the rabid poochyena and…" She trailed off, not wanting to go into detail about what she saw. "Well, some of its blood got into her mouth and probably into her cuts as well. I think I should take her to a Pokecenter and get her checked out. It probably wouldn't hurt to get Abadon looked at as well, just to make sure." Erin inwardly cringed, remembering her former encounters with a Pokecenter.

"You don't have to worry about Chasm getting rabies, if that's what you're thinking about," Ryan replied.

Erin glanced up. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Ryan looked at her incredulously. "You're kidding me. Didn't you take Dark Creatures 607? Well, sure it's an advanced course, but it's one of the more elementary concepts that you learn." His voice trailed off when he saw Erin shaking her head.

"No, it must have been one of the courses that Final Students take. I wouldn't have had a chance." Final Students were students at an academy that were in their last year and would be given their pokemon and begin their journey within the next few months. Erin never made it that far, but Ryan didn't know this. She realized this only after it was too late to fake it and make something up.

"What do you mean; I thought you said you went to an academy."

Erin took a deep breath. She wasn't proud of what had occurred and now realized that there was probably something else she could have done besides beat up a Former Student to save the pokemon from his trainer's stupidity. "Ryan, I'm only seventeen," she confessed. "I was a little over one year away from graduating and I got kicked out. I was never given a pokemon." She said this with disgrace and looked down at the ground, ashamed at herself. She was overjoyed that she had discovered such friends as Abadon and Chasm, but it still hurt her a bit that she had never earned her own at the academy.

Ryan was shocked at this new development and wondered what could have been bad enough to get her expelled. Although, he remembered his academy was extremely strict and people were suspended frequently. "What did you do?"

Erin looked up at him sheepishly. "I beat someone up," she said flatly. "He had been a trainer for about two years and his poliwhirl had only just evolved. He was pushing it too hard and started to hit it when it didn't do as good as he wanted. I couldn't stand for it so I hit the trainer instead. We got into a fight, I won, and I was expelled."

"Wait, a water pokemon? What do you have against swimmers?" Ryan knew that students were given a pokemon based on the strengths and weaknesses of the student themselves. The pokemon type always matched with the positive highlights of the student's life. Like himself, a person who had earned a water pokemon was likely to be a swimmer.

"Huh?" Erin said, confused. She didn't have anything against swimmers, and wondered from where Ryan had grabbed this idea.

"Well, first you try and tear my arm off while strangling me, and now you tell me you tell me this? I think you have a personal vendetta against swimmers."

Erin smiled and rolled her eyes, realizing his sarcasm. "So you're not disappointed with me?"

"No, not really. I didn't expect it, but I think I see where you were coming from. I don't think _fighting_ was necessary, but I see why you were angry."

"Yeah, I agree now, but I'm really passionate about some subjects and sometimes I act before I think."

They sat in silence for a while before Ryan spoke again. "Anyway, about Chasm and the rabies…"

"Oh, right." Erin had forgotten that he was about to enlighten her on the subject.

"Well, they're moonlight pokemon, right?" Erin nodded. She knew that much, and the pokedex had reminded her again when she had turned it toward Chasm. "Umbreon are connected to the moon somehow, in the same way that espeon are connected to the sun. No one's really sure how, but they are." Erin nodded again. "Being connected to something like that gives them strange abilities, just like every pokemon with their specific element. Like, Abadon would probably be able to bathe in molten lava and barely be fazed, whereas it would kill other pokemon. The sun and moon protect the espeon and umbreon from certain diseases. Not all though, just ones that mess with the mind. Chasm would be perfectly susceptible to a cold or a fever, but rabies screws around with their head, so their protected in that way. In order to fully honor the moon in the way they were created to do, their minds must be sound." He paused for a moment, and then chuckled. "I said it was one of the more elementary concepts, but no one can explain _how_ it works, just that it does. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, thank you," Erin replied, smiling herself. "What about you?" she asked suddenly. "What brings you to Lilnith?"

Thankful for the sudden change in topic, Ryan answered. "The gym, of course. Isn't that why you're here?"

Erin raised her eyebrows in surprise. "No; I didn't know there was a gym anywhere near here. I wonder what kind of pokemon the Leader has?" When she said this, Erin glanced at the two pokemon who were sitting behind bench, listening to the humans' conversation. Since Abadon and Chasm weren't exactly her pokemon, she couldn't order them to fight a gym match for her. That meant she was stuck with Celeste, and if the Gym Leader had a high level plant- or electric-type, then she might as well not bother going to the gym at all.

"The only ones that I saw were a shiftry and a zangoose."

"What? You already fought him?"

"Yeah, I fought _her _yesterday, and she's really strong. Her name's Clair, but I don't think she has any set type of pokemon that she fights with. It's more of a generalization with the more basic types, I guess. We had a double battle; you know, when you each have two pokemon on the field at once. Geyser was taken down by the shiftry, though he weakened it. I never would have made it if it weren't for Soru."

"Soru?" Erin asked. "I thought Geyser was your only pokemon."

Ryan looked up. "Oh, sorry. I forgot we met before then. Soru is an absol that I found. Or rather, he found us. He said that he would battle for me if I would help train him. It seems as though most of the pokemon in this area have left, since the land is so barren. Pity."

"An absol," Erin said. "Cool. Those are strong pokemon." Absol had become known as the Disaster Pokemon, because they always seemed to be around right before any natural disaster. "Where is he?"

"Here," came Chasm's voice.

Erin and Ryan both turned to look behind them. Sitting between Abadon and Chasm was a well-muscled absol obviously in its prime. Its skinnier legs and larger feet allowed for speed and dexterity over just about any kind of terrain. Most of his body was covered in short white fur, save for the bushy mane around his neck. His glare was indifferent and uncaring. 'He and Chasm will get along great,' thought Erin.

"Hey," Erin said, waving. She got no response.

"Er, sorry, he's not to fond of strangers," said Ryan. "He's still getting used to me."

"No problem," Erin replied, turning back around. "That's how Chasm treats everyone too."

"I guess you'll be headed for the gym soon, now that you know it's here, right?"

"Actually, I'm not so sure. Celeste is really the only pokemon that's mine. Abadon and Chasm both joined me for the same reason that Soru joined you. They're not technically mine, and I can't force them to battle for me if they don't want to."

"I'll fight," came the voice of Abadon.

"Really?" said Erin.

"Why are you acting so surprised? The whole reason I started traveling with you was so I could battle more and grow stronger. There wouldn't be a point in standing around while there was a perfectly good match waiting for me." He smiled at this, as if he had said something humorous. He then turned toward Chasm. "What about you Rattata? You up for it?"

Chasm's eyes became nothing more than glowing white slits on her head. "Call me that again and you will no longer have any vocal cords with which to speak, that you won't." Soru smirked at this remark.

Abadon decided that now was a good time for his legs to suddenly feel cramped and stood up to stretch. "Whelp, if we're going to a gym today we better get going…"

Erin was smiling and Ryan was slightly unnerved. "I'm not so sure I want a dark-type as a friend anymore."

"Be sure not to take along a smart-mouthed Char and you'll be fine," Erin said in reply. "I would like to go to the gym now though. Where is it?"

"I'll take you there, if you don't mind me watching," he said. Erin made no objections, so the group set off. Erin and Ryan made small talk in the front, Chasm and Soru said nothing to each other, and Abadon picked up the rear, pouting because he had no one to talk to. He wondered what had come of Nero, for he knew the little mew would talk to him.

After about a thirty minute walk, they arrived in front of a building with a sign beside it that read: Lilnith City Gym, Leader: Claire. By this time Erin's stomach was in knots. This was completely new to her; she had never had a gym battle. Who knows how many badges Ryan had earned? As she neared the door, her steps became shorter and shorter and her breath came quicker and quicker. Erin thought she might hyperventilate, and that made her angry. She had been to countless martial arts competitions and never experienced anything like this before. She forced her pulse to calm and her breathing to slow. Everything would be fine.

Finally, Erin reached out and opened the large metal doors and entered the gym. She stopped and looked around for a few seconds. They had entered a small reception area with a single desk and three chairs. There was a lady sitting at the desk and she looked up as they entered.

"Hello again young man, may I help you?" she asked with a fake smile.

"Yeah, my friend here wants to battle Clair now. Has anyone else been in today?" Ryan answered, pointing at Erin.

The receptionist picked up a file and leafed through it. "No, you're in luck. She has a scheduled battle for tomorrow, but today is free. Your name?" Erin answered. "Alright, go right on in; I'll call and tell her you're coming." As the group walked through the door the receptionist had motioned toward, she picked up a phone and began to talk to a person on the other line, presumably the gym leader.

Erin walked through first and entered into an open-air battlefield. A portion of the field still connected to the building itself had a roof and three walls, but the forth wall was gone. This was in case of rain, than the trainers could direct their pokemon and stay dry. The field itself was a giant arena in the open. The ground around it had been cleared of grass and boulders, and was completely flat. The boundaries were marked by white powder drawn in a strait line. The gym leader emerged from around the corner and both her and Erin stopped short and stared.

"You!" they both said at once. Abadon and Chasm glared in the Leader's direction, and Ryan simply looked confused. Soru made no attempt to show any emotion.

"You!" the leader of the gym said again. She was around Erin's height and had short blonde hair that came to the top of her shoulders. "You're the ass of a kid that got me kicked out that Pokecenter!" It seemed as though the gym leader was the same person whose zangoose had fought with Chasm in the last Pokecenter the group had visited.

Erin stood her ground and folded her arms, defiantly glaring in Claire's direction. "It's not my fault that your zangoose was so weak. I thought gym leaders were supposed to be smart. You should have stopped your pokemon before it got tangled up in a situation that it couldn't handle."

There was a slight pause as mental knives were thrown.

"Wait, you two know each other?" asked Ryan, trying to shed some light on the subject.

Surprisingly, Chasm answered the question. "Her foolish lab-bred zangoose insulted me and then attacked me. Both were idiotic decisions and I had no choice but to retaliate, resulting in his destruction. This human believes it to be the fault of Erin, and is just as foolish as her pitiful pokemon for thinking thus." At this, Chasm stepped forward. "I will fight."

Erin and Abadon glanced at each other, neither understanding where this sudden hatred came from. Erin guessed it had something to do with the lab-bred species of pokemon that the girl owned that offended Chasm, but there was no way to be certain without asking the umbreon, and this was neither the time nor the place for it.

"All right, you can battle if you want to. Thank you," Erin said in reply.

"We'll do a two pokemon battle," Claire cried from across the field, malice in her voice.

Erin was grateful that it would not be a double battle like it had been for Ryan, for she had no experience in such things. Abadon and Chasm didn't exactly work well together either.

"Each of us will use only two pokemon. You may switch out the pokemon as many times as you choose, but the trainer with the last pokemon standing is the winner. If you're ready, send out your first pokemon." When she said this, Chasm slinked forward and Claire withdrew a pokeball from her coat and maximized it in her hand. She extended her forearm and a red laser emerged from the center of the ball. When the laser withdrew, a shiftry was left in its place.

Erin knew the strengths and weaknesses of a shiftry because of her classes, but just to make certain that what she knew was complete, she took out the pokedex and opened it. "Shiftry: a pokemon that was feared as a forest guardian. It can read a foe's mind and take preemptive action. Its large fans generate stong gusts of wind at a speed close to a hundred feet per second."

"Gods, that's fast. Careful, Chasm!" she called. "Stay out of the path of its fans." Chasm was quick enough to handle that; the only problem now would be how to block the mind reading.

As she put the pokedex away, Ryan was standing farther back, squinting at the device in Erin's hands, attempting to figure out what it was. Later, if he remembered, he would have to ask Erin about it. It was definitely not technology that a normal First-year trainer had access to.

Before anything else could be said, Gym Leader Claire called to her pokemon. "Siftry! Razor Wind!"

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_A/N: Hello all. Sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger, but the chapter was (once more) taking longer than I had originally planned. (It's because so much happens in a chapter; I swear.) I would have continued until the end of the battle, but there's a place where I want to stop the next chapter and there wouldn't be enough plot to write in front of it so the chapter would be really short. Short chapters aren't any fun, so I ended it here. I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapter, so I hope you like reading it._

_And I lied: I don't have a picture ready for you. I didn't mean to lie though; I really did plan on finishing it. I have started it though, so don't think that I just got lazy. I'm over half-way done too, I just didn't want to delay the update further. Next update will have a link to a picture: I really promise this time. _

_And who else is a nerd out there? The Thursday that FireRed and LeafGreen came out, I drove to the store after school to get me one. pets her Charizard I'm hopeless, what can I say? It's been a few days since I've played it though, because of school. _

_And don't forget to review!_


	19. Gym Battle

_Hey, sorry about the long radio silence, but my computer broke. It's still broken, but I was able to get on another computer, but because of the broken-ness, no picture again, even though it's finished. Sorry. To make up for the long wait, this chapter is long and filled with other informational goodies. Anyway, with that said, read on. And don't forget to review. Those make me happy._

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"Holy…" Erin had been taken off guard by the Leader's sudden beginning to the match. She had thought that she would have had a bit more leeway, but this lady had a grudge against her, foolish though it was. Erin did not like being taken off guard, as Ryan had discovered personally earlier that day when he grabbed her shoulder. If asked, Ryan would have said that surprising Erin ended in pain for the other party involved. She had a swift reaction time though, thanks to all those years training in the martial arts. "Chasm, dodge!"

Using Agility, the umbreon barely had the time needed to dodge out of the way of the shiftry's bullet-speed attack. The force of wind could be devastating, and though both pokemon were quick, the shiftry had the upper hand with the availability of numerous long-range attacks, whereas Chasm's were more limited.

Dark pokemon are more complicated in their very existence than pokemon with basic types such as fire or grass. It was more difficult to understand their motives and they did not give away information freely, as they rarely spoke. For reasons such as this, the academy classes on dark pokemon were for the higher-level students who could grasp the outlandish concepts that humans had been able to discover about them. Erin had, however, taken a beginner-course on them that also included types such as dragon and light, and that, thankfully, was enough to teach her the attacks that a dark-type was able to execute. For this she was highly grateful.

"Shadow-ball!" was the attack she chose.

In reply, Chasm halted and stood square with her adversary. In much the same manner as a garados firing a hyper-beam, the umbreon raised her head and then thrust it forward as if to bite someone, only without the gnashing of teeth and ripping of flesh. Instead, a form about the size and shape of a baseball shot from her mouth toward the shiftry. It was dark as night yet seemed to be alive with electricity and fire at the same moment.

"Razor Wind! Again!" called the shiftry's trainer across the battlefield. Quick though Chasm's attack was, all the grass type had to do was raise and lower his arms to the ground and a powerful gust of wind stopped the shadow-ball in its tracks and it dissipated in midair.

The air attack itself had been used as a defensive strategy, yet it had also been unknowingly aimed toward Chasm in the process. Chasm had begun to slip away and would have been knocked off of the field and into a nearby tree when Erin yelled, "High Speed! Run strait forward!"

It was a strategy Chasm would not have thought of herself, and would later silently praise Erin for it in the form of a smile: rare for any dark type and rarer still for Chasm. Doing what the human girl had instructed, Chasm performed one of the fastest speed attacks possible, running strait for the shiftry. By doing this, she did not loose any ground because of her opponent's attack, though neither did she gain any ground. What occurred was the slightly humorous sight of an umbreon running in place. High Speed, unlike Quick Attack, was not an offensive move, but was used to escape an extremely fast, quite deadly, attack. Trainers had also been known to use it in relation to Agility in an evasive action as to confuse the enemy. Chasm, however, was utilizing the attack in a whole new manner.

While the effects of the Razor Wind were still present, Ryan took advantage in the lull to give Erin some advice, although he had to make it quick. "Erin," he called. "I don't think you'll have to worry about the shiftry reading Chasm's mind. They usually only do that to pokemon who are too big to be blown away by their wind attacks. Pokemon like that are usually slower, so the shiftry can focus its mind on the stationary target. They can't read the mind of a moving body!"

Erin glanced behind her. "Thanks!" That took a big load off her chest, since she had been worried about that exact problem.

Just before the shiftry's last attack concluded, its trainer called another. "Razor Leaf! Hurry!" In a split second's time, twirling leaves sharp enough to cut the skin of almost any pokemon came spinning strait for Chasm.

Erin was prepared however. "Dark Screen!" Like the shadow-ball, this defensive move was composed fully of dark matter, and would appear at the exact moment that a dark pokemon willed it, materializing in front of them as a force field. Chasm performed this with no effort at all and the deadly leaves became harmless as they fluttered to the ground.

This battle was getting nowhere, Erin thought. Neither pokemon was getting the upper edge. For each offensive attack, a defensive maneuver to counter it was initiated. Somehow Erin had to think of something to throw this battle in their favor. Then her eyebrows rose. That was it! She had thought of the perfect attack that would win this match hands down. It would require most of Chasm's remaining energy, so she hoped the umbreon was still able to handle it.

"Chasm!" Erin called. "Focus Energy!" She would need all the energy she could muster for her next attack, so this was a must, even though Chasm would have to be still for a few seconds.

Normally, Chasm would not have obeyed such a command in this situation, for speed was of the essence against such a formidable foe, but she had learned to trust Erin's instincts, so she relented and brought forth any buried energy that she could gather for the attack to come. But before Erin called to her again, Chasm was jerked off her feet and she felt the breath being squeezed out of her lungs.

The shiftry had performed Bind, and was now attempting to crush the life out of Chasm with two long twisted vines. Had Erin failed her trust?

"Flickering Shadow!"

Chasm smirked within. No, she had not failed her trust. Erin might not have been expecting the Bind attack, but had told Chasm to focus her energy for a reason. For this next attack, she would need it.

Chasm hissed and her large yellow eyes began to glow an unearthly white. To the two pokemon on the battlefield, it seemed as though the sun had begun to dim and the day grow closer to night. The shiftry looked around in confusion and slight fear, and, not knowing how to defend himself from a dimming sun, he simply tightened his grasp on the umbreon. Chasm smiled to herself again, for the shiftry's meager struggle would only make his inevitable downfall seem that much sweeter.

Suddenly, the field changed entirely. The ground became uneven and rigid and the trees grew disfigured and moved threateningly closer to the pokemon. The only colors able to be deciphered were white and black; all other colors had simply ceased to exist. The amorphous patches of black taunted the pokemon and would have laughed but sound did not exist in this strange realm.

Of course, all that those outside the battlefield were able to see was a hissing umbreon and a shiftry whose head and eyes darted around, growing in fear but not knowing what else to do but tighten his grip on his opponent.

The shiftry's trainer was growing angry. "Shiftry! Get a grip on yourself and fight back! Seismic Toss!" But the shiftry was beyond rationality now. The only sense that stayed with him was sight, allowing him to see a great black chaotic mass surrounding him and enveloping his mind. But the attack did not stop there.

The smaller black areas became tangible and leaped at him. At first they did nothing but threaten, but then they grazed him as they flew by. They hurt, he decided, and did not want them to continue hurting. But then they rammed into him and the burning sensation grew stronger, as if he would implode. Trying to scream and not hearing any sound, the shiftry's panicked mind could take no more. He released his death-hold on Chasm, took a step backward, and fell to the ground, unmoving.

Chasm stayed on the ground as well, panting hard to gain back all her lost oxygen, though still conscious. The first round was a tie. Claire cursed beneath her breath. Erin rushed onto the field and gathered Chasm into her arms to carry her off and Claire retracted the shiftry into his pokeball. Erin handed Chasm off to Ryan to hold until she regained her strength and turned toward Abadon. "You're up," she said.

Abadon grinned mischievously and jogged to his designated spot on the field, eagerly awaiting his opponent. The outcome of this match would decide the winner, since both former pokemon had been deemed unable to battle.

Claire, however, smiled as well, which made Erin a bit uneasy. "Oh, I've got just the right pokemon to put you in your place girl, so step back." The gym leader withdrew another pokeball and pointed it toward a spot on the field a few feet away from the charizard. The pokemon that appeared was a scizor. "Your umbreon may have been able to match my shiftry, but that beast can never match the speed of a scizor," she said haughtily.

Erin seriously hoped that the week's former speed training would be enough, because scizor were one of the fastest pokemon in all the known regions. Scizor could run circles around their opponent and strictly be seen as a windy red blur. If a pokemon couldn't get the upper edge in a battle with the bug type from the beginning, then they might as well not even try, for they would not have a chance. But Erin had a plan.

"Abadon," she called, "defensive maneuver C!"

Abadon gave a swift nod in reply and shifted his stance to one that was more balanced and allowed him to hold his ground.

"Nothing can save you from this kind of speed!" Claire yelled to Erin and her pokemon.

Erin simply grinned in return. She wasn't entirely sure why the gym leader held such a grudge against her. Getting a little wet never killed anybody, but she was probably a spoiled brat that became even more expectant on having her way once she became the leader of a gym. To have pokemon so strong, Claire had to be an accomplished and talented trainer, which most likely didn't help her ego. To have such drive, her pokemon were not lab bred, but since their names were also their species, then she must have raised them from the child stage, and that meant that their abilities were all thanks to Claire.

Erin made the first call this time. "Comet Punch!"

Abadon had taken no more than one step in his opponent's direction than the scizor seemingly disappeared, only to reappear again directly in front of Abadon, clawed arm in mid-swing. His fist made contact with the underside of Abadon's jaw and forced the charizard to halt his former attack. It did not, however, cause as much damage as the scizor had been expecting. But then, this charizard was rather large, so maybe he simply judged the weight-ratio wrong; things such as this do happen.

"Quick Attack, repeat!" called the gym leader.

By saying 'repeat', that meant that the attack would continue longer than the designated one strike. The scizor began to strike Abadon with hard punches as he zipped around the fire-type with an unnatural speed. Each punch would cause Abadon to delay his own attack just that much longer, and would cause a little more damage and a little more damage at each contact point. Even with the earlier speed training, there was no possible way for the Char to match the speed of his opponent. It didn't appear as if the battle was moving in Erin's favor.

"Slash!" cried Erin. "Try to get him when he comes in close!"

Abadon nodded swiftly in reply. The next time he saw the scizor racing toward him, Abadon lashed out with his claws, attempting to make contact with his chest, but the scizor was able to change direction almost as fast as he could sprint, and dashed out of the way just in time. Erin cursed under her breath.

"Take Down!" yelled Claire.

Once more, the scizor moved so fast that it seemed as if he simply disappeared. But then he reappeared, right over Abadon's head with his clawed fists raised. They came down hard square between his eyes and sent the Char's body stumbling face first to the ground in pain. He would have at least one black eye in the morning.

Ryan, no longer holding Chasm, was now on his feet. He was unable to give advice on the moves Erin should tell Abadon to use, for that was against Official League Rules and would not only require him to return the badge he won the day before, but would disqualify Erin as well. But this did not keep him from hinting at strategy.

"Maybe you should try a different defensive maneuver, since 'C' doesn't seem to be working too well," he 'hinted' urgently.

Remarkably, Erin smirked as a reply. "You're not aware of the secret qualities of maneuver C, Ryan," she added sarcastically. "This fight isn't over yet." Then to Abadon she called, "Whenever you're ready!"

From her angle of the field, Erin could see Abadon fang-filled mouth curl into just the hint of a smile as he lifted himself off the dusty plain. He concentrated and noticed the shift in the wind directly in front of him when the scizor appeared out of thin air once more, claws clenched to the side for another Take Down. Instead of attempting another overhead strike, he would swing his arms like a bat and try to strike the charizard on the side of his head. He pulled back his claws, dashed forward, and swung his devastating attack.

At the same moment, Abadon pushed upward off the ground, lifting the top half of his body fully off the floor beneath him. With the scizor in mid-swing and unable to stop the attack once it had been initiated, Abadon grabbed his crimson claws and used his forward momentum and a beat of his own wings to fully right himself, and then kept swinging to bring the scizor crashing to the ground on the other side with a Seismic Toss.

The attack was devastating, but the Char's opponent was not through. He made the motion to quickly zip away with his tiny wings, but this time Abadon was one step ahead of him. The scizor was immediately consumed in a column of bright orange flame and Abadon performed Flame Jet, a deadly accurate fire attack.

This match was won, and with it, the battle. Erin had earned her first badge.

Erin was ecstatic, and after the shock of realization wore off, she shrieked and hugged the first thing within reach: that being Ryan. It took him completely by surprise but he didn't have time to react before she was dashing onto the field to leap into the tired arms of the victor. "You won!" she squealed happily.

Abadon hugged her back and laughed a strange reptilian laugh. "_We_ won, Erin. I wouldn't have been able to beat him if you hadn't helped me form that fake defense."

"Fake?" asked Ryan, who had joined them at this time.

Erin turned around and tossed her hair away from her eyes. "Yeah. We worked it out earlier. When I tell Abadon to do defensive maneuver C, that means standing there looking like he's trying to hit his opponent when what he's really doing is bracing for their attack, learning their strategy as quickly as possible, and letting them get in close for the right time to strike."

"So he let himself get hit on purpose," Ryan stated, incredulous.

"Yep," replied the pokemon in question, the color under his right eye already darkening, as well as a few spots on his arms and sides.

Claire, Gym Leader of Lilinth City, cleared her throat, interrupting the conversation. All eyes turned to her in question. She was livid and all could tell, but she was also a talented trainer and knew when her defeat was beyond question. "You may leave now," she said, her voice struggling for control. "Your badge and prize money will be waiting for you at the front desk. Leave through the door you entered." She pointed to the way out. Chasm was already waiting for them.

The group made their way toward the exit, the spirits of all elevated and joyful. Erin chanced a look back and witnessed the singed scizor, Abadon's former opponent, being withdrawn into his pokeball, and Claire walk off in the opposite direction.

Erin went to the front desk and the receptionist handed her an envelope. Upon its opening Erin saw that there was quite a large sum of cash within, as well as a badge. The prized badge was merely a steel circle an inch in diameter with the city's name etched on the front with the region below, but Erin was not disappointed: all badges in this age were of a similar design. Many decades ago the League became too confused while attempting to keep up with the gyms and their badge designs. They created a universal design that all gyms would be required to use, and the only variables were the gym and region name. All gym names were documented in the League Hard-drive, as well as which trainers had beaten which Gym Leaders. Therefore, the myriad of designs used to distinguish the different gyms was no longer needed.

"You fought valiantly, Orange One," Chasm said on their way back into the open air. "You have great reason to be pleased."

Abadon, unused to complements from Chasm's mouth, simply said, "Thanks," and walked a little taller.

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Erin glared around the Pokecenter warily. At first, she was set completely against ever setting foot in one again, but Ryan's constant talk on the subject had finally worn her down and she consented to stay the night. He had told her over and over throughout the day that the disasters that had happened at the previous two centers were just flukes and not all of her visits would end in destruction. Besides, she needed a place to stay, and she could do so at a Pokecenter for free. She saw the truth in what he said and now sat a booth inside the center at Lilenth, just finishing her complementary dinner, which was delicious.

When their after-dinner conversation came to that inevitable awkward silence, Erin excused herself from Ryan and returned to the counter to retrieve her pokemon. Before the meal, Erin had handed Abadon and Chasm over to the nurse to be healed from the battle that still livened their spirits, and gave her Celeste's pokeball just for good measure. The pokeball was now returned and Chasm and Abadon were released from their rooms, healed of all cuts, scrapes, and bruises.

"How are you two feeling?" Erin asked them.

"I feel refreshed, but I do not wish to relive the experience any time soon. If they wished to know what ailed me, all they had to do was ask. I did not need to be drugged, that I didn't. I did not have all my senses about me, and I do not like that," came Chasm's reply.

The nurse at the counter commented on this. "We had to drug her multiple times too, because it kept wearing off."

"It's the umbreon mind-thing," came Ryan's voice from beside Erin. "If it messes with their mind, their body shakes it off easily. It's no wonder they kept having to give her more sedative."

Abadon felt fine as well, and though he had never been to a doctor's office either, he didn't think it so much as horrible as he did weird. "I won't be racing toward the center in the next town we come to, but I won't avoid it if it'll heal my wounds," he said.

Erin bought a few necessities like potions and other first-aid-kit types of things from the Pokemart next door with a little of her prize money and put it in her backpack in her room. Erin's two pokemon companions would sleep in her room: Abadon on the floor and Chasm at the foot of the bed, and Soru, Ryan's absol friend that liked Chasm but not Abadon, would spend the night in his room. The night was fast approaching and all were exhausted from the day's excitement.

"'Night, Ryan," Erin yawned.

"'Night," he said, waving in return. "See ya' tomorrow."

Erin shut her door, saw Abadon already asleep on the rug, and climbed into her bed. She thought of Ryan and smiled. He was the first real friend she had had since her expulsion from the academy, and Professor Chronal had been her only friend there.

CHRONAL! She had forgotten to call him to tell him about her gym match! She sat up in bed and glanced to the desk where she had placed the Pokedex alongside her bag and the pokeball that held the milotic. Then she sighed and rested he head on her pillow. She would call him in the morning; she was too tired now and wanted to sleep. Erin closed her weary eyes and fell asleep listening to the steady in and out of Abadon and Chasm's breathing.

They had all earned a rest.

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Erin was violently torn from her sleep as a deafening roar rebounded within her ears. Flailing her arms, she bolted up at the commotion, only to see chaos reign around her. There were people in her room: people who should not be there. The people were wearing black and carrying guns, and they were pointing them at Abadon.

Abadon was roaring and thrashing about, which explained most of the noise that woke her. He would not risk a flame attack in these close quarters and put Erin in jeopardy, but his anger was apparent to any onlooker.

Erin only had the length of about two seconds before she glanced to her right and saw one of the intruders picking an extremely limp Chasm off of the ground. Erin's eyes widened as the realization finally began to sink in. She turned her head back toward the thrashing Char as the men with the guns fired again.

"No!" she screamed, rising swiftly from the bed. One of the men turned his weapon on her and she felt an exploding pain in her right shoulder. She cried out, saw Abadon fall, and then everything went black.

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"Erin! Erin, what's going on? Open up!" Ryan was banging frantically on Erin's locked door, and the hysterical night nurse was coming up behind him, fumbling with the key-card chain, attempting to find the correct one. "Erin!" When he had heard Abadon roar, he and Soru had come tearing down the hallway to Erin's room. But now everything had been quiet for a few minutes, and that made him even more nervous.

"Here it is!" called the nurse, holding up the key-card as if it were a much-coveted prize.

Ryan grabbed it from her grasp and opened up the door and turned on the lights. There was nothing there.

His eyes darted anxiously around the room, but the only signs that anyone had ever been in there were the bed sheets that were strewn about and the open window. He took a step toward the window, but stopped and glanced down when his foot hit something. He reached down and picked it up. It was the red thing that Erin had had during her gym battle. He looked at the desk that it had fallen off of, but there was nothing else there.

What had happened?

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_Oh, sorry to leave you guys with a cliffhanger, but, well, I'm not actually that sorry. I've been planning this part of the plot for a few months. Bwa ha ha. I've already begun on the next chapter, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to finish it, since school does take up most of my time now. BUT! I was accepted to TWU ( a college in Texas, where I'm from) will a full scholarship, so that's where I'll be at this time next year. I'll be majoring in Graphic Design and attending many fun art classes. Alright, enough of me, REVIEW! _


	20. The Agency

_Hey folks. To make up for the last chapter's long wait and cliffhanger, I have quickly written the next chapter. Yay for Charpal! With that said, read on._

Slowly, slowly, Erin regained consciousness. She found it difficult to move, and then wondered why she was able to move in the first place. Now, where had that thought come from? Why shouldn't she be able to move? What had happened?

Her eyes snapped open. Good gods, she had been shot; that's why she shouldn't be able to move. Since her shoulder no longer felt the blinding pain it did earlier that night, she assumed that it had been a tranquilizer dart. But why? Erin's eyes darted back and forth, but all she could see was white. Maybe she had died after all. No, there was a door: a heavily armored door. That seemed too weird for heaven.

She tried to sit up and found that difficult. Was she paralyzed? No, she could still move her feet and legs fine. Were her arms paralyzed? No, that wasn't it either; they were just being restrained. Erin rolled onto her stomach and pulled her legs beneath her to, rather awkwardly, lift herself off the ground and look around from a better perspective.

Erin closed her eyes and shook her head to brush off the dizziness that came with standing up too fast, or, in her case, crouching too fast. She opened her eyes to see a straitjacket. Well, that explained the reason she wasn't able to move her arms.

Abadon and Chasm! Where were they! Granted, Erin didn't know where she was either, but that didn't stop her from worrying about them. She had thought both of them dead, but since she had also thought herself dead, and she lived, maybe they were okay as well. And what of Celeste? If the men had just taken them, then she would be all right.

'Great,' she thought. 'Two pokemon AWOL and one MIA.' And then there was her. What was going to happen to Erin? Staying there was a bad idea: that was a given.

She stood up carefully and hobbled over to the door to examine it closely. It was make of metal: the only thing in the room that wasn't white. She noticed the bolts and looked at the corners. It was electrically locked from the outside. Damn. Then she kicked it. It was thick. She kicked it harder. No, she wouldn't be able to get out that way.

Erin turned around and leaned her back against the door. What the-? A window? High on the opposite wall there was a window – or what could serve as one. Really, it was about two feet wide and six inched deep with no glass in-between. It was too high to see through, even by jumping. Unless… She looked toward her bed, the only piece of furniture in the room and also white. She walked over to it and hoped with all her might that it was mobile.

Score.

Pushing with her side and feet, Erin eventually moved her bed to where it was directly under the window. It wasn't much of a window, but that didn't matter to her. What mattered to Erin was that there was someone beyond it. She climbed up on her bed, which wasn't much more that a thin cot with sheets and a pillow, and began to jump. Ha! And her parents had told her never to jump on her bed.

It was then that the seriousness of it all finally sunk in. These people had snuck into her room at night, drugged her and her pokemon, put her in a straitjacket, and locked her in a room. What did they want with her? Were they going to experiment on her? On the pokemon? Good gods, she didn't even know _why_ they captured her, or _who_ did it!

"You're not a pokemon," came the voice that snapped Erin out of her frantic trance. She had finally jumped high enough on the cot to be able to see through the window.

"Hey…you're a…scyther!" She had to time her words right so the creature in the adjacent room would be able to hear her.

"That is correct," he replied. He was an older scyther, Erin noted. He had many long-healed scars and appeared weary. Both his scythed-arms were in chains, spread out on either side of him in a position where they wouldn't be able to reach the chains or each other. His clawed feet were chained to the floor as well. "And you are a human. Brilliant deduction." He said this with a smile, so Erin knew he wasn't being condescending toward her. "It was my understanding," he continued, "that this was strictly a pokemon research facility. I have not been aware of any other humans in the vicinity of this cellblock. Why are you here?"

"I…don't know," answered Erin. "They…kidnapped me…and my pokemon. Have you…seen them?"

The scyther shook his head. "No one's come to this section in the past few days except for you. You know," he said as an after though. "If you simply spoke louder, then you wouldn't have to continue jumping and you could speak in full sentences."

Erin complied, seeing the wisdom in this, as she had begun to get tired.

"What pokemon were they?" the scyther asked.

"One was a big charizard with black markings named Abadon, and the other was an umbreon with a spiteful attitude named Chasm. And there may or may not be a-" But the scyther cut her off.

"Abadon? Chasm? That must mean you're Erin!"

Erin almost choked on her spit. "How do you know my name?"

"Nerotalibithan told me about you."

"Nero? You know Nero? He left so suddenly; how is he? Where is he? _Who are you_?" she finally got around to asking.

"My name is Khythas. Ever since Nero's encounter with you three, he has shortened my name and called me Khyt and hasn't allowed me to call him by his full name. I am Nero's guardian," answered the scyther.

Erin remembered her last encounter with the mew child, when he flew off into the forest yelling for Khyt, though she hadn't the slightest clue what that was at the time. She smiled when she remembered their conversation about nicknames. "So it was you who he went to find in the forest. You take care of him?"

"Yes," replied Khyt. "I am his guardian," he stated once again.

Erin, her head still spinning from what had already been said, but with a million more questions, began at the beginning. "How did Nero get separated from you in the first place, and where is he now?"

The scyther's eyes darkened at this question, though Erin was unable to see this. "There was an accident," he stated vaguely, "and the young one fell in the river." He dropped his head, ashamed. "I had thought him dead, though continued to search, until he came to me in the forest. I ordered him to teleport the two of us away, for I thought he was fleeing from danger when I heard your footsteps close behind. Only later did I discover that a human, a charizard, and an umbreon had saved his life, though I doubt Nero understands the danger he was in. He is still young, and death is a foreign concept to his mind."

Erin let out a sigh. "I'm glad that it was you that was in that forest then. I was afraid that he had something bad had happened to him."

"Something has, now. I have failed him once more as a guardian, and should rightly be stripped of my title."

Erin could hear the pain in Khyt's strained voice, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. "What happened?"

Khyt hesitated before continuing. "Shortly after Nero's return, men in black uniforms came upon us in the night. It seems as though they had been tracking me for some time, most likely to obtain my young charge. I was unable to defend him."

"Why didn't you two simply teleport away again?"

The scyther didn't answer right away. "I don't know how much I should tell you," he finally said. "The circumstances surrounding Nero's existence are supposed to remain a secret from humankind to begin with, but to willingly divulge the information to anyone is strictly taboo."

"We already know that mew, or at least Nero, are still alive, and we haven't told anybody or tried to take advantage of him in any way. We're his friends, and we want to know if he's all right. I doubt that any extra information about him will make us want to poach him," Erin replied matter-of-factly.

Even though Khythas hadn't formerly met Erin or her pokemon, he could tell from Nero and his tales of them that they truly meant him no harm, and would have continued to keep their knowledge of him a secret from others. He was convinced. "Nero couldn't teleport us away at that time because I was too engaged in battling the humans to conjure a solid image in my mind for him to use as a reference. He wouldn't have been able to so for himself because Nero is blind."

"What?" asked Erin incredulously. What do you mean 'he's blind'? He could see us fine before. His eyes are blue anyway, not white, like a blind person's."

"The color of his eyes is simply an image- a hologram, if you will- in order to fool those around him. He is advanced enough in his psychic abilities to send out psychic 'tendrils' of a sorts and view the world around him as a sort of colorless wasteland. He can see others as shapes, but not as individuals. He recognizes them by their brainwaves and voice patterns. This is how he was able to 'see' you before. He is unable to maintain this and use his powers in battle at the same time, however, and so is highly vulnerable."

"Oh," was all Erin could say in response as she slumped down on her bed with her back to the wall. "That's a horrible was to live."

"Yes," Khyt replied. "But Nero doesn't seem to mind it much; it's the only thing he's ever known, and he discovered how to do so on his own. I am proud of him."

"But where are his parents and the other mew? Why don't they take care of him? How come you have to be his 'guardian'?"

The scyther make a short laugh at these questions, almost like a scoff. "This is a topic too complicated to cover in eons, let alone however short a time they decide to keep us locked up here, whoever _they_ are." Then he cleared his throat. "Let me give you the condensed version. The _really_ condensed version.

"Mew are rare. They were rare centuries ago, to the humans anyway, but their kind have been slowly depleting throughout the last millennia. Mew are also powerful, but they used to be even more powerful. Humans remember them how they were at their peak, when they could train with their kind and fight against each other to hone their skills. They can't do that anymore, because there aren't enough of them.

"About three or four centuries ago an organization was put in place- by who I don't know- to care for them. Since the mew were getting so sparse, this organization thought it best if certain powerful psychic pokemon were to take the newborn mew and train them separately, so that, if a human decided he or she wanted a mew, they wouldn't be able to capture them in groups, if they captured one at all. This tactic worked extremely well in the beginning, but then pokemon capable of training a mew to its full potential began getting sparse as well. The fact that mew haven't lived up to their full potential in centuries is beside the point. There are now virtually no able psychic pokemon left to rely on, so the organization branched out. When Nero was born, I was chosen to be his guardian and train him.

"So far I believed that I had done a decent job, considering the circumstances and Nero's condition. Now," and here Khythas' voice faltered, "I know that he has learned nothing from me. All he has done, he has accomplished by himself."

"No!" cried Erin. She once more began to jump on her bed to get a look at the scyther. His head was hung in complete and utter defeat. "No!" she repeated. "Just because you make a mistake doesn't mean that the world has to end! I made a mistake earlier, but I found a way to survive, and so will you. If they took Nero, then they wouldn't kill him, because he's too precious for them to harm." All of this was spoken rather loudly, because not only was it a passionate subject, but Erin had to speak so Khyt could hear her full sentences while airborne. "We'll find a way out of here and rescue Abadon, Chasm, and Celeste, as well as Nero! If you really care about him like you say you do, then you can't give up!"

The door unlocked.

Erin flipped herself around and landed firmly on the floor facing the door, which had just unlocked rather loudly, startling her. It opened up to reveal two men, these wearing white uniforms, one of them bald. Behind them, by the wall in the hallway outside her room, was another man who was wearing a suit and appeared extremely angry. No, forget that, he was livid.

"I told you not to put her in a cellblock bordering that of a pokemon's! Did I not!?!" the man in the suit screamed at the other two. "Did I not!?! I told you, 'she comes from an academy, she'll be able to talk to the pokemon', unlike you two blundering fools, who can't even seem to learn the basics of Pokemon Speech. Now it seems as if you don't understand simple English! 'I don't want her conversing with them' I said. But you can't listen!"

While he was yelling at his subordinates, they had entered Erin's room and attempted to grab her. She swiftly dodged the first and kicked him in the stomach, bowling him over, but without the use of her arms to help keep balance, the other was easily able to come around behind her and lift her off the ground. That one continued to hold on to her shoulders and the first grabbed her feet so that they could carry her out.

"Erin?" called Khyt from the adjoining room. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she called after him as she was being carried from the cell. "Don't worry about me!" But the door had already closed, and if the scyther had made a response, then Erin was unable to hear it.

Erin struggled and kicked against the hold of her captors, using every fake-out move she could think of that didn't require the use of her arms, but they were stronger and a few hundred pounds heavier and she was unable to break free.

Eventually they brought her to another room with a long table and numerous chairs surrounding it: a conference room of sorts. Mentally Erin berated herself, for she had been so busy fighting the two men in white that she hadn't bothered to notice what path they had taken to bring here there, and she wouldn't know how to return to Khyt if she escaped. No, _when_ she escaped. She had to keep telling herself that.

"Good evening," the suited man said, no longer upset. "Though from the look on your face, one would never know."

Her captors had sat her down in one of the chairs and this man was standing across the room from her, on the other side of the table. They were holding her in place, but she didn't have to like it. Anyone who could see Erin's facial expression at that moment would know that she was irate.

"Let me go or I'll rip out your esophagus!" she yelled at him. Yes, Erin was angry indeed.

"Now, that's no way to speak to the person who is to tell you the secrets of the universe."

'Sarcastic moron,' Erin thought. But she said, "Please, enlighten me."

"Oh, I will. But first, you must tell me what you and the scyther spoke of. All my men have been able to get out of him are idle threats."

"We didn't talk about anything except how to get out of here."

"It would not be wise to lie to me." His eyebrow twitched in anger.

"I'm not lying to you, you idiot! You asked me what we talked about and I told you. Now where are my pokemon, and why did you kidnap us!" It took all of the strength of the men in white to hold her down at this time.

The man in the suit walked calmly around the table to stand in front of Erin's chair. Then he punched her.

"I told you it would not be wise to lie to me, and I do not make false threats." He wiped off the blood on his hand on a handkerchief and returned to his former place across from Erin. There was blood running from her nose that stained the formerly white straitjacket. "But I will let it slide this once," he smirked.

"I also hear you are a decent fighter," he continued. "In time those skills will become mine as well. For now, I will give you a history lesson. What do you know about evolution stones?"

"Go to hell."

The man simply chuckled to himself, seeming pleased. "Yes, in time, you will learn to control that anger and use it to your, and thus my, advantage. But for now," and at this he took a seat at the table. "I'll skip the basics, as I'm sure you know what these stones are and what they do. That does not concern me. What I care about is what you do not know, what my scientists have discovered and perfected after years of research, what they do not teach you at that academy of yours.

The man leaned closer, looking Erin in the eye. "Let me give you an example, as I'm sure I can explain the situation better that way," he began once more. "A leaf stone enhances the abilities of grass type pokemon, some more than others. A leaf stone has no effect whatsoever on a flame type pokemon. And, when used in the right way, a leaf stone can have a devastating outcome for a water type."

His smirk widened as Erin's brow darkened. She was beginning to understand what he was getting at. "You bastard."

"Yes," he said. "Now you understand. Even the greatest pokemon can be taken down against certain odds. Your charizard, for example, proved extremely difficult." Here he paused to outright laugh, for Erin's eyes had widened and she gasped. "Well, there was no other way of containing him. You kept no pokeball to which we could return him. Here, I will show you."

He withdrew a remote control from his pocket and turned it toward the television screen on the wall at the end of the room. A few buttons were pressed and the next thing Erin knew, she was looking at the devastating sight of Abadon, standing in the middle of a large room that was so completely out of her reach. There were an infinite amount of wires hooked up to his body that seemed to be draining the very life out of him.

When Erin finally found her voice, it came out in barely a whisper. "What have you done?"

"Restrained him," the man stated without the slightest hint of compassion. "His duel-type proved a challenge for my scientists, but they eventually worked it out. A formula that was strictly formed of the water stones would not have done any good, seeing as how his 'darker half' would have compensated for that. So they added a few things here and there, and there you have it! Every attempt he makes to break free opens up the tubes on his body and sends more fluid into his veins. He keeps trying, whenever he gains strength enough again, but eventually he will learn, as will you, that resistance is undeniably futile."

As if on cue, Abadon began to struggle against his mechanical hold, and Erin could see the sickening blue liquid flow through the wiring and into the mighty Char's body, causing him to cry out in pain and frustration, only to fall to the ground. For all his work, he was no further to freedom.

Erin was now visibly crying, not ashamed of the tears streaming down her cheeks, mixing with the dried blood from her nose that turned those tears red. "Why would you do something like this? Who are you? Where am I?" By the last question, she was screaming again.

"Clam down. I will not harm you if you do as I say. My name is Charles Turner, but you will call me 'sir'. This," he said, spreading out his arms, "is my organization. I am involved in dark dealings, I'm afraid, and many people loose their lives at my expense."

"Like Team Rocket? You're trying to mimic Team Rocket? You're an idiot." The reign of Team Magma and Aqua were so short-lived that neither team had earned a full chapter in the history books.

"No," Turner replied with a growl in his words. "Not like Team Rocket. Giovanni was a fool and took on too many things at once that he could not control. I, on the other hand, know my limits. You may refer to this place simply as the Agency."

Erin was shaking with frustration. "Why are you telling me these things? You could have just kept me locked up, or moved me to a different cell away from the scyther and locked me up there, and I wouldn't be a threat to you, but you drag me in here and tell me confidential information and hit me! What you want from me!?!" The two men holding her down were having a difficult time of it.

"Because I want you to work for me."

"Like hell I will!"

"I will train you personally and your fighting skills will grow. You will be an interpreter when I require for the more difficult areas of the pokemon language, and when I tell you to, you will go on missions and kill if I require this of you."

"What makes you think that I'll do anything you say?"

Turner looked at her captors and waved a hand. "Let her free. Take off her straitjacket."

They did so, and immediately Erin leaped over the table to get at Turner. He easily backed away and dodged her attack. She came at him with a right kick and he blocked it. She attempted to punch him in the gut and he stepped aside. Any attempt Erin made to attack him, even though she was the most able fighter at her school, Turner dodged without breaking a sweat. Finally, he grabbed her arm, twisted her around, and slammed her into the wall. With her head pounding, Erin was too disoriented to block his next attack.

But his next attack never came. "The first reason you will do as I say is that I am stronger and faster than you. I can easily defeat you in any form of combat, but this will not always be so. Since I will be training you, you will eventually become just as talented as I. That is why reason number two is the most important of the reasons." He bent down to look Erin strait in the eye and spoke gravely and seriously. "Look at the screen. I hold your charizard, your umbreon, and your milotic somewhere in this facility. You do not know where, and any attempt you make to escape will only end in their pain. Do I make myself clear."

Erin hung her head in defeat, realizing his logic. "Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very good," Turner said with a smile. "You two," he said, pointing to the guards. "Take Ms. Erin here to her new room in the agent's quarters and let her get cleaned up and into a change of clothes. Hers are not appropriate." She was still wearing the flannel pajamas that she had been kidnapped in.

As Erin left the room with the guards, Turner withdrew a cell phone from his coat pocket and dialed a number. "Call the Gym Leader in Lilnith. Tell Claire that I am highly pleased with the new agent, and send her the usual sum she receives when giving us the whereabouts of a promising disciple." He hung up before the party on the other line could reply and walked out the door, still smiling to himself.


	21. Isolation

_This chapter took a while; sorry about that. At least it's up though, right? Thanks to all the people who have been reviewing. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long to write, but I always say that don't I. Well, anyway, here's the next installment. Happy reading._

Breathe. That's all you have to do. Just keep breathing. Deep breathes. Good, now just keep doing that. It'll be over soon. It'll all be over soon. Then you'll be able to see again. Then you'll be able to hear again, and feel and smell and taste again. Just keep taking deep breathes. See? It's working; the nothingness is fading. You can see some light now. Open your eyes. You can taste the air now. You were so sure that you were dead, weren't you? You thought you were breathing, but you couldn't be certain. You never can tell, until the drug wears off. Your eyes aren't open yet. There, that's good. Now stop shaking; that's a sign of weakness. Don't let them know the drug affected you as bad as it did. Make them think that you can just shake it off. Don't let them know that you'll have nightmares about it for the next week.

Erin sat on the floor of a padded room in a straitjacket. It wasn't the same room that she had been placed in when they first brought her there, and it wasn't her room that she slept in at night. But she had been in this room twice before, and the straitjacket was familiar as well.

Charles Turner, or 'sir', as Erin was required to call him, had a strong sense of irony, and it showed.

As Erin's vision cleared and she stopped shivering, she made out darkened spots on the otherwise spotless jacket. They were the bloodstains from her first meeting with Turner. They had never washed the jacket, and it was always the one they placed her in, when they gave her Iso.

Iso. That was the name of the drug that was given to her a punishment for not completing a Task. The drug that relieved her of all senses and left her in a nauseating limbo in her mind where she didn't know if she was dead or alive. Even the name was ironic. It was short for isolation, which is how it left the person on the wrong end of the needle: isolated.

Every time they gave it to her, she just kept telling herself to breathe, but she was never aware if it was working until the Iso wore off.

Erin was sweating heavily and her mouth hung open as she gasped for air. Three months. She had been held there for three months. There were no windows that she was aware of, and she hadn't seen a clock once since her arrival. The only way she was aware of the passing of time was when they assigned her a Task, which was once a month.

The first time, Erin thought it was just another training exercise, but only for a few seconds. Then she understood that they were completely serious. She shuddered at the thought of it. "Kill it," they had told her. "It has served its purpose." Then they handed her a gun.

She had punched the man. She punched him and kicked him and beat him so furiously that the gun was immediately knocked from his hand and he had no time to block a single attack. During the first month that Turner had been training her, her speed at hand-to-hand combat had almost doubled. Soon though, she halted her assault, realizing that she was acting no better that the rest of the agents at the Agency. She looked past the man, who had back stepped a considerable distance once allowed, to the pitiful withered excuse for a pokemon behind him. It had done all the good it was capable of to the Agency, and now they were disposing of it. They wanted _her_ to dispose of it. She would not.

Erin turned to leave and stopped short. Turner was there in the doorway, watching her with a smile. She growled and tried to walk past him, but he blocked the exit. "I don't think so, Miss Erin. You have been assigned a Task and have failed. There are consequences for failure."

Then she had been given Iso. The next two Tasks she was assigned were different, but no less ruthless. She had refused to do any of them, even when she was aware of the consequences.

But those were the only times she disobeyed. Any other time and her pokemon would be punished. This was the only time that she was penalized. She told herself she could live with it. But it was slowly eating at her sanity.

The door opened. "Come along, Miss." Another man in a white uniform. There were only two people in this facility: agents and scientists. Agents, such as Erin, wore black, and scientists, such as this man, sometimes referred to as doctors, wore white. Erin stood up, albeit shakily. He released her from her restraints, which would still not be washed, and led her down the many winding hallways to her room.

She sat on the bed and stared at the floor. Then she rested her head on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Damn. If the Iso didn't kill her, then her routine surely would. Every morning, or what Erin assumed was morning, all the lights in her tiny dwelling, which consisted of a bathroom and a bedroom with a bed as the sole piece of furniture, would automatically turn on. This was her signal to get up, get dressed, and walk down the hallway to the mess hall where she and about six others were served something akin to gruel.

Erin was the second youngest agent-in-training, and the only unwilling participant. There was some kid who looked no older than fifteen there as well, who was always full of energy and threats that no one took seriously. Erin hated him directly. She didn't talk to the others and thus they didn't bother her. They simply thought that she wasn't a conversationalist; they never suspected that she was being held there against her will.

After an extremely short meal, Erin split off from the others. She didn't know where they went, but she went to the training room, or more specifically, Turner's training room. Erin was the only one of the group to be personally trained by him, but they were unaware of it.

She trained and trained for hours with little rest and no mercy for wounds from previous training sessions. Erin had more gruel for lunch, but this time she didn't see any of the others. They weren't pushed as hard and ate earlier than her and were then allowed a break. She ate at the end of their break. She saw them again when she passed by their training room on the way to the lab. Or she would, if she bothered to lift her head.

At the lab Erin was trained in the various aspects that there weren't classes for at the academy. She was taught about chemicals and how much of which chemical could do what. She learned about gasses and which were toxic and how to determine the level of toxicity. She already knew that certain pokemon gave off noxious gasses during certain attacks and defenses, but now she learned what those gasses were, how they affected a person or pokemon, and how to determine the strength of the pokemon by how poisonous the gas was. She soaked up everything like a sponge.

After dinner there was more training. She trained until late in the night, after the other agents had gone to bed. Turner was determined to make her the best agent in the Agency. After three months, she most likely was. Now she could almost match Turner in hand-to-hand combat. He still beat her every time, but only almost.

Her door opened. Erin smirked. No, they never did give her time to rest. If she had free time, then she might have time to think, and Turner was too smart for that. Then she might figure out a way to escape.

"Hey, I don't got all day," said Erin's escort from the doorway. "Let's hurry it up."

"Very well," she replied, rising from her bed. From the floor next to her bed Erin picked up a cylindrical rod that was about an inch in diameter and a foot long. Then she followed the agent out the door. Erin didn't understand why Turner still required her to be escorted everywhere within the facility. It wasn't as if she ever had any free time to go exploring anyway. Oh well.

"Good day, Miss Erin," came the voice of Turner from within his training compound. Here her escort left her and she entered. Turner glanced down at the silver weapon in her hand. "No, we will not be sparring with the Bo staff today."

Erin smiled knowingly and placed the weapon by the door. She knew that Turner would have seen that smirk and would now push her extra hard for making him feel inferior, even for an instant. Erin knew that, while Turner could still defeat her when they sparred with no weapons, it was she who was now superior when it came to the Bo staff. After Erin came out the victor three days in a row, Turner decided that they no longer needed to practice with that weapon.

But what a weapon it was. Once an agent was no longer in training and went on field missions, they were always required to carry one. These Bo staffs were created by Turner's scientists, and truly were a marvel of technology. When held in just the precise position in an agent's hand, the foot-long cylinder opened up and stretched almost instantly to roughly five and a half feet. An extremely strong alloy, it could withstand great strength and would not easily melt. Also, it was fused with an experimental rubber, so, not only would the staff be easier to grip, but neither would it conduct electricity. Turner was exceptionally proud of this invention, and resented Erin for being more adept at its use than he.

But he could make her feel his anger. For hours they sparred, and as usual, Erin came out defeated. She knew she would, so it wasn't such a big deal. She pushed herself hard, to the edge of her physical ability, as she did everyday. This way, she would collapse on her bed in an exhausted sleep, and maybe the nightmares wouldn't last as long because of it.

She could only hope.

0000000

Erin heard more than Turner was aware of. During her classes in the lab, she heard a lot of talk from passing groups of scientists. Not much, but enough to know which doors in the rooms she was allowed in led where. And, which always lifted her spirits, she sometimes heard things such as, "That Char's still fighting," and "You think he'd be too weak to fight anymore," and even, "That umbreon almost bit me; tried to come at me right through those bars." Erin always fought with a little more spirit during her next training session.

Even in those exhausted sleeps of hers, where no thoughts except nightmares ever permeated, Erin planned. Over and over in her mind she walked the hallways of the Agency. She would turn every corner that she knew, enter every doorway. And then, when she had walked everywhere she had been, she would stand at the end of a hallway and stare into the blackness beyond, to the areas she had never seen, and imagine what lay in that darkness. From the gathered information, Erin knew that through the left door in one of the lab rooms, and strait through a few more doorways, was where the pokemon were kept. The larger and stronger ones were farther out in areas where they could be monitored according to their specifics and were guarded more heavily.

But she didn't know which way was out. If she did find her pokemon, that would become a problem. Not the only problem, but one of the most time consuming, which was a bad thing.

A few more days. She would only need a few more days. Then Erin would take a risk that could cost all of them their lives.

0000000

"Oof." Erin slammed into the wall and groaned. It had been seven days since her third Task. She was still pushed harder than any of the other agents-in-training, and Turner was still determined to break her will. He thought about going easier on her once she completed a Task.

Turner was unaware that there would never be another Task for either of them.

"You're not trying hard enough," he snapped at her. "Focus!"

But Erin knew that she had done better during this training session than any other. Time was almost up and that was only the third time she had been hit that night. "I am focused," she calmly and coolly stated. Erin had learned quickly that shouting was not a good means to an end. If she had yelled that same line at Turner, then her heart rate would have increased and her breath would have become slightly more irregular. Then Turner would have the upper hand and would have her on the ground, defeated, in a very shout amount of time. This way, her focus never faltered.

The two sparred for a while longer, then Turner finally called for them to stop. He was quite pleased with her advancement as of late. It appeared as though all the emotion she once held had fled her mind. It was shortly after the last Task, he realized. It must have been that recent shot of Iso that finally wore her down. Since then, she had never shown frustration when defeated in training; she would simply rise and try again. He even mentioned her Char the other day, and no anger showed on her face. It was as if she merely no longer cared.

Perfect.

In three weeks, when her next Task date came, Turner was positive that Erin would complete it as composed as she had been battling with him that very night. Turner smiled. He finally had his perfect agent.

He summoned an escort to take Erin back to her room and decided that when she completed a Task he would relieve her of that necessity as well.

"Here you are, little missy," said Erin's escort upon arriving at her dorm. He bowed sarcastically but she didn't respond.

He frowned. He much preferred the first few months when she had arrived and remarks such as that would rile her up and he would laugh. This stoic attitude that she had taken as of late was slightly unnerving and took all the fun out of his sarcasm. As he raised his head and looked into her eyes, his breath caught in his throat. That cold look in her eyes…That look chilled him to his bones. But she was just a kid! He shouldn't be afraid of her.

He twisted around and walked the few steps to the end of the hallway and turned the corner just as the lockdown was initiated. He heard the _swish_ of the girl's door closing and knew she was locked in tight until morning.

Back in her room, Erin smiled for the first time in three months and seven days. It wasn't the smile of joy or happiness that she had experienced while laughing with Ryan, but a sneer of triumph. This place had taken all her joy, but she had learned the art of conquest. Erin had been taught never to engage in battle unless she had a plan.

"Blind fighting leaves the fighter dead," is what Turner had said. "Don't simply rush in, but use stealth to come out on top."

"Fine,' she said out loud. "I'll use stealth." Erin glanced down at the floor of her room, where the wall met the electric door. Or, where the wall _would_ meet the electric door, if there hadn't been a foot long metal cylinder blocking its path. That cylinder was all she owned now, besides the clothes on her back. There was nothing else in her room for her to take.

Erin reached toward the door and wedged her palms beneath it. She pushed with all her might and opened it just enough for her to squeeze though. On her way out, Erin knocked the Bo staff out with her foot and she released her hold, the door shutting quickly behind. She stood there for a few seconds, silently laughing at her audacity. If she were caught, not only would she be given a dosage of Iso that would more than likely kill her, but her pokemon would be harmed as well, perhaps fatally so.

But there was no going back now.

Slowly and with great care, Erin began to walk forward. She went the opposite direction as her escort, knowing that to the left were simply more dorms, training facilities, and the mess hall. To the right was how she would get to the labs, and ultimately the pokemon containment area of the Agency.

There were no cameras in the hallways in this area, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. When the lockdown occurred and the rooms were shut, all the lights were turned off until morning. Had there been any cameras, the only thing to see would have been darkness.

The darkness didn't bother Erin though; she had walked these hallways a myriad of times in her sleep, and she could practically see the walls in her mind. She rested her left hand against the wall anyway, while her right clutched her weapon. One could never be too careful while breaking out of a guarded facility.

Soon, the hallways brightened just a bit, for she was entering the laboratory area of the Agency. There would be cameras in this region because of the assortment of high-tech equipment. But Erin had worked within those doors for three months, and all cameras had their blind spots. She grinned again while she straitened up and hugged the wall. This was fun.

But then her grin faded. Her journey had been easy until now, but not because of any talent on her part. The fact of the matter was that no one walked the halls of the dormitories once the lockdown had been initiated. There had been no one for her to run into, and therefore no inconvenience. This is where it would get tricky.

Next to the entrance, Erin halted and reached for the lock panel on the wall next to it. It was a palm-reader, and only granted access to those whose fingerprints had been programmed in beforehand. Since Erin's were not, she had to improvise. She wedged open the panel and took a peek at the assortment of wires inside, fingered a few, then reached in and yanked them all out. She backed up when sparks flew, but was then able to dart inside the room as the door's power ceased and the locks canceled out.

As she entered, Erin dove forward and rolled to break her fall, eventually coming into a crouch underneath a chrome-covered table. In the middle of the ceiling there was a single camera: the sort that was shaped like a dome for full 360-degree rotation. But it couldn't see strait below, which was how she could determine the direction it was currently pointed.

Since the red 'warning' lights were not yet flashing, Erin assumed that the camera hadn't been pointed at her door. More than likely, it was positioned at one of the other two doors in the room, and that was either a good thing, or a bad thing.

Erin carefully eased herself directly beneath the domed camera, taking a chair with her. She stood on top the chair and examined her quarry. Once more, Erin was lucky, because the camera was currently observing a different door than the one she required. It might not stay that way for long, so Erin moved fast.

She leapt off the chair and darted under a few more tables, careful of the wires connected to the equipment. The doors within the labs opened by a motion sensor. If a scientist had his or her hands full, then it could be hazardous if they were required to stop and open a lock. This only worked in Erin's favor.

She had never been through this door, though. She had an occasional fleeting glance of what lay within whenever someone walked through, but it was the other door that led to her classes. Stealth played a large part in her plan now.

"What was that?" came a voice, and Erin literally stopped breathing.

She had entered this room the same way as the first, and was now crouching beneath another chrome table. This room was long and narrow, and a row of similar tables lined the middle. There were men in this room, three to be exact. Erin could see their shoes and the bottom half of their lab coats. It seemed as though they had heard the door open, but had been too slow to catch her in her swift dive.

But now she was stuck. She couldn't enter the door at the other end of the room or else these scientists would see her and set off the alarm. Damn.

"I don't know…" another voice answered, the owner's feet moving cautiously in her direction.

Erin hastily moved forward. The bars and wires that occasionally blocked her path underneath those tables did not prove an obstacle for her lithe body and did not hinder her momentum.

Only when she reached the other end of the row did Erin stop. The door she had to enter was just in front of her, but it might as well not have been there at all. The scientists shrugged off their earlier surprise once they didn't find anything and had already gone back to work. But they were still in the room, and Erin was still stuck.

_Fwoosh_.

The door opened. Just like that, her path was clear. Another scientist had set off the motion sensor when he entered the room, carrying a box overloaded with computer parts, and would give her a clear path into the next room once he passed.

"Hey Mike," said the man who had first spoken. "What've they got you doing now?" he said with a laugh.

"First they want me to deliver this box of outdated parts clear across the facility, then I'm supposed to fix the flickering light bulb in that room. It's annoying the heck out of the guys in there. I'll just be glad when I don't have to run errands anymore."

"Yeah," said another. "Sucks being a rookie, huh? Don't sweat it though, maybe, when you're actually allowed to do experiments, you won't get stuck on nightshift like us."

Erin was just getting ready to make a leap for it when something hit the floor in front of her. She looked down. It was one of the parts from the box.

"Woops," said the one she assumed was Mike as he set the box on the table just above her head. He bent down to pick it up. Erin's eyes widened and she thought she might throw up. The man had his hand on top of the part when he noticed that there was a girl dressed in black stooped beneath the table.

"What the…" But that was as far as he got, because he found it rather difficult to say much of anything with a metal pole slammed underneath his chin, a movement that sent him soaring across the floor in the opposite direction.

Erin was out from beneath that table in less than a second, and the first of the remaining three scientists was so stunned to see an agent in a lab after lockdown that he didn't move at all as Erin raced toward him and smacked him upside the head with her staff as if it were a baseball bat.

The other two hadn't moved yet either. Erin, placing the metal rod firmly in her grip, squeezed with just the right amount of pressure and each end shot out instantaneously to the staff's full length.

The sudden movement of Erin's weapon jolted the scientists out of their shock and they both ran to the alarm switch near the door she had entered.

No! She would not allow them to reach it and blow her cover so early in the game. Erin nimbly leapt on top the nearest table and ran atop it to reach her prey on the other side. With another mighty leap she was on the ground and right behind both scientists. Soon, however, she was on top of the scientists as they lay on the floor, unconscious.

Erin stood there for a while, breathing deeply and trying to slow her heart rate. A few more seconds, and one of them would have been close enough to pull the alarm. Then she would have been caught. Then her pokemon would be hurt. She glared at the door that would lead her to the next room. Without a second thought she stepped over the men on the ground, one of them bleeding, but not fatally so, and closed the gap between her and the freedom of the pokemon that lay beyond.

A bulb was on the fritz. That is what the first unconscious scientist had said, that there was a flickering bulb in the next room. But he had also said that there were more people in that room as well. More people to hide from, or more people to bash into the floor? Fate would have to decide that, she guessed. It didn't really matter to her either way, and Erin had to wonder if she should be worried that that thought didn't bother her much.

Erin first pulled the man out of the direct line of sight to anyone who might glance in there when she entered, held her breath, made a wish, and walked through the door, crouching as it opened.

Darkness.

Except for the light streaming in behind her, the room was enveloped in darkness. But she didn't much mind that anymore.

"Gods!" she heard someone yell. The room was lined with shelves, and whoever else was in the room could not directly see Erin, but neither could she see them. "I hate this stupid light! I can't get any work done when it keeps going off like this."

"Mike?" came another voice, from the other side of the room. "That you? Did you bring back a good bulb already?" There was a brief silence as the two waited for a reply that never came. " I know I heard the door open…"

"Great," said the first voice. "Now the doors are turning to shit. Isn't there anything in this stupid building that works right?"

The lights came back on, and Erin frantically looked around for a place to hide. But there was no table or other structure large enough for her to hide under and not be seen.

"Oh, that's good then," said the first voice sarcastically. "And that will work for about five seconds before it goes off again, and then we'll be sitting in the dark once more." Well, he was obviously hyperbolizing, for while the two of them shuffled around in-between the shelves, Erin was holding her breath, waiting for the light to turn off again. Once it did, which seemed eons longer that five seconds, it didn't go off completely, but flickered in and out shadow.

Still, Erin used this to her advantage. The door wasn't directly on the other side of the room, as the others had been, but off to her right on the other wall, near one of the scientists. Erin would have to move carefully if she didn't want to be spotted.

So, she moved only when the shadows did. It was as if she was part of the shadows. The lights went off, she moved; they came back on, she stopped. She only breathed at careful intervals and was wary of stray trash that could cause unwanted sound. The shadows flickered, and she with them.

Flickering shadow… That was the name of the attack that stopped the shiftry during her gym battle. Chasm had performed it beautifully. No! Erin felt her eyes dampen. She could not allow herself to cry, not now. Erin had not cried during the whole time she had been held captive at the Agency. Whenever she had felt sad, she had focused that sadness and used it to fuel the anger and hatred she held toward Turner and what he had done. This was all his fault, and she would make him pay.

Then she could see it. Erin spotted the next door just a few rows beyond her current position. She held her weapon, now retracted, at her side, and listened carefully to determine the whereabouts of the closest scientist. There: the next row over. Once more, Erin was facing a dilemma. This would have been so much easier if no one else was here.

Even if the lights turned off completely, Erin realized that she could not walk through that door. One faulty door might be able to be overlooked, but if the second opened as well, that could not be looked on as a coincidence. These scientists did what they did for a reason; they weren't stupid. They would easily put two and two together and she would be caught. It was a good thing that Erin had just come up with a plan, then.

Quietly, not as quietly as Chasm was capable of, but well enough for a human, Erin slipped up behind the unsuspecting scientist. Completely oblivious to the danger he was currently in, he placed his notes and files on one of the shelves in front of him and stretched his arms, ridding his back of any aches. Suddenly, backaches were the least of his worries. His whole body tensed and his yawn caught in his throat as he felt the tip of a gun between his shoulder blades and an arm, slender but solid, wrapped around his neck.

Of course, Erin wasn't really holding a gun to his back; she didn't even have a gun. She wouldn't be allowed to be trained in firearms until she had completed at least two Tasks, so she didn't even know the correct way to handle the simplest revolver. Erin had placed the end of the retracted Bo staff on the man's back to make it seem as if it were a gun. Granted, it was a bit larger around than a gun would be, but Erin didn't think the scientist would be in a position to judge the size of the barrel at this point.

She leaned forward until her mouth was right beside the frightened man's ear. In a whisper so soft that even he could barely hear, Erin said, "Tell your friend you're going to the bathroom."

In his frightened state, the man couldn't quite understand her intent. He hesitated, which caused Erin to squeeze his neck harder. "Tell him." Erin didn't want to be malignant, but this place had hardened her emotions and now she was in quite a desperate situation. She didn't see another choice other than to make the scientist think his life was in danger. She might knock him unconscious, but Erin would never kill him.

"Uh, hey, uh, I'm gonna' go to the restroom." His voice came out shaky and unsure.

'Great,' thought Erin. 'He'll give himself away for being such a crappy liar.'

The man's friend must have noticed that he didn't sound like himself. "You okay, man? You don't sound that great."

Erin squeezed a little bit, to prod her captive on. "I don't, uh, I don't feel too good."

"Huh, right," said the other, not believing the lie but misunderstanding it for something else. "I'll come and find you once Mike comes back with a new bulb. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you're taking a break."

Erin didn't risk having her prisoner speak again, but simply shoved him ahead of her and though the door. Once beyond, Erin looked around. This room was just a few feet long and wide. She knew where she was.

"Please don't kill me…" the scientist whimpered. Erin released her chokehold and swiftly pressed a pressure point on his shoulder. Immediately he went limp. He was not dead, but neither would the scientist be waking up for another hour or so. His friend would most likely find him before that, but, Erin hoped, not before she was free.

The other door, only a few yards away, had a yellow sign attached to it with the word CAUTION printed in big bold letters at the top. After reading it, Erin nodded, her suspicions confirmed. Beyond this door lay the pokemon containment area. Beyond this door lay Abadon, Chasm, Celeste, Khyt, and a myriad of other pokemon that were being held against their will. Beyond this door lay the only path to freedom from this awful place that Erin knew of.

But, for all the caution she had taken thus far, Erin would have to double it. Guards patrolled these hallways, and they had weapons and the stamina to fight back. Erin could be walking toward her freedom, but she could also be walking to her doom. There was no way to tell.

She took a deep breath to clear her head, and then Erin opened the door.

_Not really much to say about this chapter. I didn't like it as much at first, but then I reread it and I think it's fine now. Maybe because I didn't have any pokemon in this chapter. I like writing about the pokemon. Anyway, I hope you liked it. Oh, and if anyone wondered (probably not), about the origin of Soru's name, I got it from Absoru, which is the Japanese name for the Absol. Just a random tidbit there. Now review!_


	22. Rescuer on the Run

A hallway. Another damn white hallway, just like the ones she had walked endlessly behind an escort for the past three months: that's what was beyond the caution sign.

Erin didn't know what she had expected once she entered the pokemon holding quarters, but she didn't think it was going to be more bland hallways. It was almost blinding, the way the light reflected off the endless sea of white.

There was no one in sight and no other doors to enter in her immediate vicinity, so Erin wasn't quite certain as how to begin. In movies she had seen, there were always signs with arrows telling the reader what led in what direction. Erin assumed that anyone who should have been there would know where to go. She should not, and did not.

So she turned right and began walking. When she reached the end of that path, she turned right again. After a few more bending turns in that awful white hallway, Erin turned into a more promising area. Here, there were two doors, though on opposite walls. One had a sign that read _Janitor's Closet_, and the other said _Dark Room_.

"What, Turner can't even go into town to get his pictures developed?" Erin said out loud in a moment of absentmindedness. She immediately cringed at her own voice and listened for the footsteps she was sure would be headed her way. Thankfully, there was nothing.

Continuing down the corridor however, her ears picked up the clip-clop of a guard's shoes as he made his rounds.

'Crap!' thought Erin, and she dashed silently back the way she had come. She needed a place to hide, and fast!

The rooms! Erin reached into her pocket and produced the key-card she had taken from one of the fallen scientists earlier and thanked the gods for her sudden thought to do so. She reached for the janitor's closet and then thought the better of it, reaching instead for the dark room. If it was a janitor coming her way instead of a guard, then she'd have to knock him out as well, and Erin didn't need a body trail. She would hide in the dark room until she thought it was safe to come out and resume her search.

But the second she stepped inside the room's boundaries she was certain that the room had been mislabeled. This room was anything but dark! A blinding light struck her eyes and bored through her eyelids. Even covering her eyes with her hands did Erin no good; the light came from everywhere! Then she noticed the voices…

"Get out!"

"Filthy human, we won't succumb to your trickery!"

"I'll rip the flesh from your bones!"

Erin was at a loss. Using her arms as a barricade for her eyes did not allow vision, but at least it was less painful than nothing. She could not find the card slot without the use of her hands but she needed her hands to keep from going blind. She backed up against the door and cringed, but still she could not escape from the radiance, and now those bodiless voices were in her head as well. Where was she!

But then she heard another voice. This voice sounded so weak, but gave the impression that it had once been strong. It struggled to make itself heard above the ruckus that the others made collectively.

"To your left! Search to your left!" is what this voice called out.

Not knowing what else to do, believing herself doomed otherwise, Erin reached out blindly with one arm and felt the air to her left. Only, when she reached out farther, she no longer hit only air, but a number of solid somethings hanging from the wall next to the door. She picked one up, felt it, and… what the… Goggles? Erin awkwardly strapped one around her face and the world seemed to go black. Tentatively she opened her eyes, expecting this to be a trick.

Erin gasped at what she saw. Light bulbs were stationed in every surface in the room. Not only did illumination come from the ceiling, as usual, but from the floor, the walls, and even in the tables, allowing for no shadows in the room whatsoever.

The goggles, such as the one Erin was wearing, acted as sunglasses. The area between the lenses and her eyes harbored no shadow either, but simply dimmed the light, allowing for vision.

The reason that Erin gasped, however, was the reason so much light was needed in this room. It wasn't called the dark room because the room itself was dark, but because it concealed dark type pokemon! All around her were poochyena, murkrow, sneasel, and every other kind of dark pokemon imaginable, all weak from the lack of darkness. Without shadows to manipulate, their ability was building up in their system like a toxin.

They were still screaming at her, but there was that one voice that knew her, that screamed her name rather than obscenities.

"Chasm!" cried Erin, running toward the caged umbreon in elation. "Chasm, are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?" Even as she said it, Erin had her answer. She knew that the scientists would not have been able to lay a hand on Chasm, but that didn't mean that she couldn't get injured in other ways.

The cages that had her and the other dark pokemon trapped were state of the art, just like everything else at the Agency. The bars were fused with lasers, so that they were a form of light as well. The pokemon would not be able to scratch their way through a prison made of photons. Chasm had wounds on her shoulders and one on the right side of her face that had not been there three months ago. Erin guessed that she had tried to push her way through the bars or attack the scientists on the other side and the solid form of light had burned her. Erin winced as she thought of the pain that had been inflicted on the stubborn umbreon.

"I'm fine," Chasm insisted. After a hesitant pause she continued, "I knew you would come for me, that I did. You have too a strong a spirit to be taken down so easily. I feared it might have taken numerous years before you learned of my location, but I did not doubt your arrival."

Erin was moved by Chasm's sudden display of emotion, but she had no time for heart-felt meetings at that time. Just then, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end as the room became eerily silent.

Erin glanced around, barely daring to breathe. All the pokemon were staring at her intently with wide eyes, barely breathing themselves.

"Are you here to help us?" asked the murkrow in the cage next to Chasm's.

"I- well- technically, I just came to rescue Chasm, but of course I will set all of you free if you want," she answered. They all began to yell and scream again. "Hey!" yelled Erin, "What I am attempting is an extremely delicate situation, and if you compromise that secrecy than I will not allow you to come." She wanted to assist them, but her first priority was her own pokemon.

They fell silent.

"Don't bother with big words," interrupted Chasm. "Most of these are lab-bred and won't be able to understand. They cause such a disturbance because no one likes being held against their will."

Erin nodded in understanding. "Now listen," she began. "I am here to rescue my friends. This means I have to be quiet. If I let you out of your cages, you have to be quiet as well. When I let you out, you can't make any noise. Does everybody understand?" All the prisoners gave their consent. "By the way, Chasm, how do I let everybody out?"

The umbreon turned her head to the far wall. "There is a switchboard in that corner that controls every cage."

Erin was already on her way over before Chasm even finished her sentence. She took one look at the mechanism and knew that each switch on its surface corresponded to each cage. To test it out, she flipped the control for Chasm's cage, and the bars of light instantly ceased functioning. Chasm leaped out and Erin flipped the switches for all the other cages harboring pokemon.

They were all elated and stretched their tired legs with a smile. Not many people live to see a dark type smile, and certainly not so many at once.

"All right!" cried Erin, catching their attention. "If I'm going to break you out of here, we're going to have to do this right." She pointed toward the door. "Once you pass that doorway, there can be no talking; everyone must be absolutely silent. No one makes any rash decisions or runs off without me telling them to. Okay?"

"Not all of us here are idiots." It was a sneasel who has spoken, and it didn't appear to appreciate being treated as if it were a toddler. Erin had been talking to them as such because that is what the students at an academy were told to do. The lab-bred pokemon did not have as much intelligence as the wild pokemon because of the years of cloning, so sometimes talking slower was the easiest way to communicate.

"I trust you to make your own decisions," Erin told the sneasel under her breath. "But many of these others would never survive on their own, and if I don't command them then they'll give us away and none of us will be able to escape."

The sneasel still seemed unsure, but then it glanced at Chasm, who gave a nod, and then it appeared content for the time being. "Very well."

Erin walked over toward the door and listened intently for any noise coming from the other side. She instantly felt foolish, because every room was insulated enough so that someone would literally have to crash through a wall for anyone outside to hear within. She reminded the pokemon once more that they had to be completely silent and then swiped the key-card. Her quest had begun anew, only this time it was more dangerous.

For the most part the dark types followed her directions well. Occasionally she would have to remind them to stay behind her and not wander off, but they kept their voices down. She assumed they followed that order so well because dark type pokemon didn't usually talk at all unless they were insulting another or screaming threats. Neither seemed appropriate at this time.

"Lady! Hey lady!"

Erin turned her head to address the young umbreon who had whispered, though it was a loud whisper, to catch her attention. He was standing in the middle of a hallway that the rest of the group had just turned out of. He was pointing at something that was beyond Erin's current point of view. "What is it?" she whispered back.

"There's someone there."

Erin's heart stopped cold in her chest. "Wha- what do you mean?" she managed to say.

"Hey!" came a voice, undeniably human. "Who's there?"

"Shit!" called Erin. "Everybody run!" She took her own advice and turned around in a full-out sprint in the opposite direction.

It was over. She knew that now. Everything was all over. She had been a fool to think that she could break out of there: a facility where everything was state-of-the-art. She should know that: she was being trained to be a state-of-the-art agent. In the future, Erin would probably have headed up assassin missions, where no one would have been able to cross her and live. She was a complete and utter fool. Now she would die.

"Hold it!" came the voice from behind.

"Don't hold it; keep running!" She couldn't think of anything else for them to do. It was all hopeless. None of them would ever see the light of day again, unless it was to steal or kill or ruin someone else's life, so she told them to run. This was the last order they would ever hear from her. She leaned to her left to turn a corner.

_BAM!_

Erin skidded to a stop and looked behind her. Her face drained of all its blood. Chasm! No, she realized, not Chasm, who was standing next to her, but another umbreon: the one who had first alerted them to the guard. He was lying in a pool of blood. The guard had shot him, and he was already dead.

Erin's eye twitched.

Chasm bumped her head up against Erin's knee, urging her on. "Come on, Erin. We need to run if we are to survive. I am weak and injured and will not be able to properly protect you."

Erin didn't move, but kept staring at the small umbreon. He was too young to have evolved from an eevee on his own, Erin realized. Most likely he had been experimented on and forced to evolve against his will. And now he was dead. These people had made his life a living hell, and now he was dead.

A second later the guard turned the corner in pursuit, and Erin snapped. She was standing two feet away from him with her hands resting limply at her side, but her reaction time was greater than most the agents working for Turner. Before the guard could point the gun at her to get in a shot, Erin's Bo staff had already lengthened and slammed into his stomach.

She kicked out with her right leg and knocked the gun from his hand and then slammed the staff upside his head and he was blown into the wall. But she didn't stop there. The man was already unconscious but Erin kept hitting him and kept hitting him. In her blind rage she wasn't able to tell if she was even making contact but she couldn't stop herself. All her rage and anger of the past three months were being let loose in this moment of chaos.

Suddenly Erin found herself unable to move. She struggled for a good thirty seconds before she noticed that Chasm was talking to her. Actually, Chasm was screaming at her.

"Erin! Erin stop it; you'll kill him! He's not moving and he won't come after us. Leave him alone!"

Erin calmed down enough to look around her. A darkness was draped around her body, except for her head. Chasm had trapped her in a force field that inhibited movement. The guard who had shot the young umbreon was immobile on the ground. There was blood. Erin's breathing slowed and she realized that her cheeks were wet. She had been crying. For the first time in three months, Erin had cried.

"I'm alright now Chasm, let's keep going."

All the other pokemon had now fled and their time was growing shorter. Erin wiped her eyes and continued down the hallway, in the opposite direction of the guard.

Then a thought hit her. Chasm had stopped her. When they first met, Chasm had attempted to kill her and even Abadon for associating with her. Chasm had killed a number of humans in her time, but she had just kept Erin from doing the same. Perhaps a part of Erin's earlier teaching had rubbed off. She needed those reminders now.

There! Down the hall was another door. When Erin reached it she read the sign next to it: _Holding Block Prison Cell 4_.

"If there's a prisoner in there, then we should help them, right?" Erin asked Chasm.

"Yes," answered the umbreon without hesitation. "They will most likely assist us in our escape, that they will." Before Erin could consent, the door became enshrouded in a dark mass and was then ripped off its hinges and thrown down the hallway. The suppression of her dark ability from being surrounded by so much light had apparently worn off.

"I did not mean to apply such force, but I am unused to using my abilities, that I am. Though, since our secrecy has already been blown by the numerous dark types running around, I don't suppose it matters much."

Erin looked within the room and gasped at her luck. Chained to the wall with its arms outstretched in either direction was the scyther she had met upon awakening at the Agency. "Khyt!" she called out.

The scyther was already looking in her direction, since his door had just seemingly disappeared, but only now recognized the agent standing in the doorway. "Erin, is that you? Why are you here?"

She ran up to him. "We're making a break for it and I'm finding my friends so I can leave. Chasm!"

Chasm understood her job and, in the same manner she disposed of the door, Khythas' limbs were stripped of their chains.

"Let's go!" cried Erin.

When the group turned to leave another guard was standing in the doorway, speaking into an earpiece. "Roger that. They're in the prison cell area. Repeat- oof!" Chasm, the swiftest of the group even in her weakened state, delivered a speedy body slam to the man's stomach, sending him into the opposite wall, unconscious. But now more guards would come.

"We have to hurry!" she cried, not missing a beat after her attack.

"No argument here," agreed the aged scyther. "But I'm not leaving without Nero!"

"Neither are we!" called Erin. "Don't worry."

The group continued to run, but Khyt, who had not been able to move at all for the past few months, was having a harder time keeping up.

"Another guard!" warned Chasm, hearing footsteps coming their way. "Two of them!"

"Another door!" was Erin's answer. "Hide in there!"

Chasm stripped the door off the wall just as she had the last.

"Okay, no hiding after all," said Erin. "Maybe we can distract them long enough to get away."

The sign to the side read: _Greenhouse B_. Erin didn't need to guess the type of the pokemon within. They were grass type, though by looking at the caged pokemon, it was hard to tell. There was little to no green, as one would expect.

The heater inside the room had been on way too long, and it was drying out their abilities and their appearance, though this was most likely the intention. Without fertile plants, a grass type would be able to do little. One treecko was in such bad shape that she had even grown rough, rocky sores on parts of her body. These pokemon, like the dark types, began to yell and scream obscenities at Erin upon her entrance.

"Quiet!" she yelled back, not caring who heard. "I'm here to break you out! Chasm, Khyt, get rid of their bars!"

Her two companions began to do just that: Chasm ripped open cages and tore off chains using her ability to control the darkness and Khyt slashed the bars apart with his massive scythes. When the pokemon were freed, they ran for the opening and soon a stampede had formed. Erin heard shots fired outside and cringed, but those were soon silenced. More than likely, the guards had been trampled by the hoard.

Everyone was frantic. There was no longer any order to anything, as Erin had intended when she began. Their cover was blown and guards with guns were chasing them. None of the pokemon she had freed had bothered to thank her, let alone do anything other than go on a frenzied rampage. They had all been cooped up for so long, probably longer than she had been there, that the thought of sudden freedom being thrown in their faces was too much to take in all at once. Thus the stampede.

"Keep going," said Erin, less enthused than before.

They traveled along the trail that the others had taken. It wasn't hard to follow. Not only could they still hear them, but some of the larger ones had run into the walls, cracking them and breaking the plaster, and occasionally another dead pokemon, trampled by the others or shot by a guard.

The group stopped once to free the inhabitants of _Greenhouse A_, who were sane enough to attempt order in their escape, which lasted only until they were surrounded by a group of eight guards. Here they saw the treecko with the sores again as well. Erin knocked out two with her staff, Khyt managed to delay one long enough for Chasm to attack, and the rest were taken down by the newly-freed grass types.

But Erin faltered when she saw the treecko fight. It used ground type attacks! It was a duel type, Erin realized. Those rocky sores weren't sores at all, but a ricky growth found on most ground types, like the black markings on Abadon's back. Though they were all dehydrated, Erin noticed that the treecko was able to fight harder than the rest. It proved Chasm's hypothesis that the dues types were quite possibly the next stage of pokemon evolution.

And they kept running. Occasionally they ran across one of the pokemon they had freed, but none followed them.

Eventually they traveled into a larger area with a door at the other end. With no better option, they entered.

"Good gods, what is this place?" Erin spoke under her breath.

When the three of them entered, the previously darkened room lit up to reveal an enormous space. Against one wall lay shelves and shelves that were lined with pokeballs. The opposite wall harbored a massive computer with an equally massive screen.

Erin eyed the pokeballs, thinking that Celeste could be in one of them, but it would take ages to look though all of them, and some of the pokemon inside could be hostile. The computer on the other hand, might be able to tell her what pokemon lay in what balls.

But when she attempted any action, the computer ordered a password be entered, and Erin didn't have the slightest clue as to what it might be.

"Great," she said, kicking its front and feeling defeated. "I don't suppose either of you is a computer hacker."

"Actually," said Chasm, "I might be of some use in this situation, that I might."

"How so?" asked Erin hastily.

" Dark energy will most likely interfere with the electrical current in the computer. I won't be able to direct anything as an experienced electric type might, but I should be able to cause enough confusion within the system that it will skip a step or two, including the password registration."

"Do it!" cried Erin, not willing to waste any more time.

Chasm closed her eyes and concentrated. The light in the room around the computer seemed to eerily darken and the air grew cooler. But suddenly the computer screen blipped and they were into the mainframe.

"Chasm! You're amazing!"

Chasm smirked in reply, though Erin knew she was not being haughty.

While Erin searched the database for any clues as to a map of the facility or which pokeballs held which pokemon, she introduced her two friends.

"Chasm, the scyther is Khyt. You remember Nero yelling about a kite when he flew off? That's who he was talking about. Khythas, is Nero's Guardian because Nero's blind. Khyt, this is Chasm, who you heard about from Nero, no doubt. Ah ha!" She had found something.

Before her was a list of the pokemon on the shelves, ordered by rows and columns. It appeared as if all of these pokemon were large: too large to be held in regular cages. She searched until she found the milotic, but her joy was short lived. There were at least ten of them and, large as the room was, it wasn't large enough to hold a milotic. If Erin opened up a pokeball to see if it held Celeste, they would all be crushed.

"Try clicking on it," suggested Khyt. When given a speculative look he said, "I do know something of human life."

Erin shrugged and did as he requested. Bingo. A short biography appeared beside the one she clicked on. It was nothing useful, only saying how one of the agents had raised it and then returned it later. She clicked on the next one, and the next one, neither of which were hers. Erin tried the forth in line. It read: _taken from agent Erin upon her capture at the Pokecenter in Lilnith City._

"Score!" cried Erin happily. She ran to retrieve the ball in the designated spot on the shelf.

"Erin," said Khyt. "It looks as if you can click on your name as well."

In the description of Celeste, Erin's name was underlined, as some words were on the Internet when more information on the subject was available. She clicked on it out of curiosity.

_Captured at the Pokecenter in Lilnith in hopes of forming her to be an agent for the Agency. Requested by Gym Leader Claire of Lilnith City._

This was the first Erin had heard of Claire's interference with her life. The word "agency" and Claire's name were underlined as well. Furious, Erin clicked on "Claire."

_Former Gym Leader to Lilnith City Gym. Former underground informationist for the Agency during War Time. Position was compromised shortly after last agent request was made, and is now in the custody of Federal Agents._

War Time? What the heck was that? She clicked that as well.

"Oh… gods…"

"Erin!" called Chasm quietly, though requiring immediate attention. She was near the door the group had first entered with one of her large ears near the floor. "They're coming!"

"Okay," Erin replied as she backed out of the summaries. She still needed to find a map. "How long do we have?"

"A minute; no more than that."

Erin hastily pointed and clicked on anything that seemed like it would be remotely helpful in locating a map of the Agency, with an occasional "Try there," and "Click that," from Khyt. After half of their minute was up, they struck gold.

"Alright," she said after the map enlarged to encompass the entire screen. "We're here, so out would be… that way." She was pointing to one of the only two other doors in the room. "But we still don't know where Abadon and Nero are!"

"What're those?" asked Khyt, pointing with a scythed arm at the two black squares on the map that read "Classified." One of the squares was behind them, through the third door in the room by the shelves of pokeballs.

Erin almost discarded them, but then thought the better of it. Abadon would probably be considered classified. "Chasm," she asked. "Can you make the computer skip again and show what's in those classified boxes?"

"I'll do my best." Once more, the room grew cold and dark, but just as fast as it happened, everything was back to normal and new information was available to them, Chasm's trick having worked again.

Erin first chose the closest one, the one that was in the room behind them, and a description much like the others showed up on the screen. When she tried to speak, Erin couldn't get her words out right. "It… oh gods… it's Nero!"

As one, all three of their heads turned and then they ran toward the door. Khyt slashed a giant "X" in the middle of the door and Chasm delivered a body slam to the center, knocking it apart.

"Nero!" screamed Erin, rushing into the room, closely followed by her two pokemon companions. Erin screeched to a sudden halt at the sight of the mechanism in the middle of the room, and Khyt almost knocked her over attempting to find his charge. "Shit."

Nero was curled into a tiny ball within a sphere of energy. There was a giant metal machine of some sort that the sphere was sitting in that obviously powered it, but how that occurred was beyond the comprehension of anyone there. A control panel was set to the right, though was still connected to the main section by a myriad of cords and wires.

"Nerotalabiathin!" called Khyt, running up to the mew, who was set at his eye level.

Nero stirred sharply, as if he had just been woken up from a deep sleep.

"Nero, it is I, Khythas!"

"Khyt?" Nero whined meekly. He opened his eyes, his milky-white unseeing eyes. Then he began to cry. "Khyt, is that you?"

"Yes, child, it's me," he replied soothingly. "Everything will be alright now."

"I was so scared. I don't know where I am and nobody was nice to me. And now I can't see. There's something here that won't let me see through my mind and I'm scared. Why can't I see, Khyt? Where am I?"

Khyt almost broke down in tears at the young mew's questions and couldn't talk for a moment, though he tried. Erin, who had begun to cry as well, spoke for him. "Some bad men took you Nero, but it's okay now. Do you remember me? Erin? I'm here with Khyt and Chasm and we're going to get you out of here where you'll be able to see again. So don't worry anymore, this'll just take a second."

"Erin?" asked Nero, surprised but not disappointed. "Is Abadon here too?"

Chasm answered this time. "No young one, but we are going to find him as well, that we are, and then we'll all be free together. Then we can eat apples and play chase again. Do you remember when we played chase?" Granted, their last game of 'chase' consisted more of a livid Chasm attempting to capture a playful Nero between her claws, but that was beside the point now.

"Erin," Chasm continued, observing the energy sphere keeping Nero entrapped. "If the sphere is a form of psychic energy, then I will most likely be able to bypass it, surround Nero with an energy sphere of my own, and pull him out unharmed. Do you think I shou-"

_Crash! Snap! Bang!_

Erin was slamming her Bo staff into the control panel of the machine. She knew that Chasm would help until she collapsed and not complain once all because of her pride. But Erin saw right through that façade.

Erin had not slept in a number of hours, much longer than she ever had since she had been at the Agency. With the numerous hours of training and skill developing everyday, she collapsed onto her bed every night. But this night she had bypassed sleep and in the process gained a number of additional "training sessions" while she avoided the scientists and fought with the guards. She was exhausted, though she tried not to think about.

But Erin also knew that Chasm was tired. If she attempted what she proposed, then the umbreon would most likely keel over from the amount of energy lost. Erin couldn't allow that to happen, so she did the next best thing. She would beat the machine until it quit working.

"They're in here!" The guards had found them.

She continued to whack away at it.

"Erin, they're coming. We need a plan!" It was Khyt, but Erin didn't care.

She hit it some more.

The bar on the power strip hit maximum. Okay, she would beat the machine until it quit working, or until it fell under so much stress that it overloaded and then exploded.

"Take cover!" she screamed as she dove away. Not that there was anything to hide behind.

The guards ran in, aimed their guns to take a shot, the lights flickered, and the energy ball surrounding Nero lurched and then expanded in the blink in of an eye. The guards were caught off guard, which Erin thought a nice since of irony, and Erin, Chasm, and Khyt were pushed violently into the wall.

Erin barely remembered it, but was hurting in enough places when she coughed and pulled herself off the floor that she'd never deny it did happen. She shakily stood to her feet to view the damage. Khyt was basically fine, thanks to his solid exoskeleton, but Chasm was sitting down and panting hard. The walls were cracked and the guards who had entered mere seconds earlier were now lying unconscious just outside the open doorway.

"Nero?" she asked tentatively, fearing the worst from the blast. But then Erin sighed as she heard a tiny cough amidst the dust in the air. She pulled herself over to him. "Are you alright?"

He coughed again, but looked up at her with a smile and piercing blue eyes. "I sure am, though I'm hungry." Nero then leaned against her in what he deemed a hug until he spotted the scyther. "Khyt!" he called, hopping over to him, where the older pokemon embraced the mew in a careful hug with a sigh.

"I was so worried about you, young one. I am relieved to know you came to no harm."

He jumped down and sort of half flew, half hopped to the middle of the room. "I'm happy now that all my friends are here. Except Abadon. Erin, we need to find him so we can go find food. I want something to eat!" he said merrily. Nero couldn't be fazed for long.

Despite herself, Erin smirked. She stood, stretched, and retrieved the Bo staff, which had been blown across the room in the explosion. "All right, but we have to hurry. Can you hurry, Nero? You'll have to stay close to us and be extremely careful at all times. Stay away from everybody else. Understand?"

Nero nodded happily, more than likely thinking it all a game now.

"Right," Erin said with a nod to Khyt and Chasm. "Let's go." She jogged out of the room, expecting the adrenaline in her body to make her forget about her aching joints, and toward the only other door that they hadn't been through: the door that led, not only to Abadon, but also to freedom from the Agency. Soon they would either all be free, or they would all be dead.

Erin tried not to think about it too much as she entered into unknown territory.

0000000

_And there you have it folks. Sorry for the long wait, but I'm not able to get on the computer more than once or twice a week. I had hoped to drag this chapter out a bit longer, but it was already long enough so I'll make the next scenes a full chapter as well. I hope you are still enjoying this story, as it is drawing to a close. There are only about four or five more chapters left until I wrap this thing up. Six at the very most. Depends on whether the chapters go long or not. Most likely they will. They tend to do that. I'll stop speaking in fragments now. _

_Anyway, please review and tell me what you like about my story and what you think I should do to improve on it. Thanks for all your tips in the past._


	23. Fire Within

Erin made her way down yet another hallway of the Agency with the fear that at any moment a guard would pop out and shoot them to the ground. Chasm ran alongside her and a bit ahead to her left, Nero flew by her head on her right, and Khyt brought up the rear and ran behind.

Their path didn't twist and turn as much in this area. Most of the time they ran strait, with only the occasional detour to either side.

Erin was used to working hard because over the past three months she had been pushed beyond her natural limits in Turner's mad drive to make her the "ultimate agent." Even so, her strength was waning. Her breath came hard, despite conscious control to keep it steady, and her feet had begun to hurt. She could only imagine what it must be like for Chasm and Khyt, who hadn't run at all in a long while.

That was when Chasm warned her of the guards.

"They are coming. Many of them. And they don't sound too pleased, that they don't."

"Thanks Chasm. We know they're coming now, so-" Erin's sentence was cut short and ended in a grunt as she hit the wall on her left, her side burning in pain. She looked up to see Chasm and Khyt on either side of a nidorino. No wonder she hurt. That was a large pokemon and it had hit her dead on.

Erin spotted her Bo staff a few feet ahead of her and dashed for it at the same time that Chasm threw a shadow ball at the nidorino. He dodged but it still clipped him in the shoulder, causing him extreme pain as the antimatter ate into his skin.

He began howling, but Erin had already heard the rumble of other pursuers and didn't bother to turn back, knowing her pokemon would follow as she ran. Even Chasm, who would have once stayed until her opponent was unconscious, halted the fight to flee.

A bullet whizzed right by her head and she tripped in surprise, almost falling over herself in the process, and she ran faster. Another bullet harbored itself in the wall as the group turned a corner and a shout of, "Nidorino! Return!" could be heard over the shouts of, "Fire at will!" and "Turner wants the girl alive!" That didn't ease Erin's fear. If anything, it made the sick feeling in her stomach worse.

"There!" Erin cried urgently, pointing to a door on her right that read 'CLASSIFIED: authorized personal only.' That was the place on the map that held the other black area. It was in here that she might find Abadon!

Khyt sliced through the metal door as if it were no more than air and the group ran through.

"Oh…gods…" whispered Erin under her breath. "Oh gods oh gods oh gods," she continued, beginning to cry again. This time the tears flowed heavily to the point where she could no longer see her hand in front of her eyes.

"I assume that is the one you call Abadon?" asked Khyt.

Erin and her pokemon had entered a room close to the same size as the one that led to Nero's prison, but was obviously used for vastly different purposes. Whereas the other had a giant computer and equipment for research of technology, this one was pure white, like all those damn hallways, and like Chronal's lab, Erin remembered.

She would never have a day where the only thing she had to worry about was staying under the radar of condescending teachers again, Erin realized.

This room was used for pokemon research and experiments, and at the far end, behind a large pane of glass, was perhaps the saddest sight Erin had ever seen.

"Abadon… oh gods, what have they done to you?"

Erin had last seen him on the television screen when she first arrived at the Agency, after her first fight with Turner. The horror of that didn't even begin to compare to what now lay before her.

There was a small explosion in the doorway behind her and Erin turned.

"Erin!" cried Chasm. "You go rescue the Char, and we'll hold them off for you!" Without waiting for a reply the umbreon turned to the battle at hand. Erin took her cue and ran toward Abadon.

"Nero," continued Chasm behind her. "I am aware you cannot join the battle with offensive attacks like psychic and mind sweep, but can you create force fields?"

"Yes," the mew answered.

"Then please protect us as much as possible from those humans and their pokemon who wish to see us fail!" She was able congratulate Nero soon when one of their pursuers seemingly ran into nothing and fell backward as the mew giggled to himself. They might just be able to hold them off.

Lightening crackled around Erin as she slammed her Bo staff into the glass like a spear. The glass was obviously rigged to ward off escape, but Erin's weapon didn't conduct electricity. It cracked on the second thrust, and by the fifth, she had fully broken through!

"Abadon!" she screamed, climbing through the hole the jagged hole in the glass and scraping her arms and legs in the process. Erin didn't even flinch; all her thoughts now rested on the charizard before her.

Abadon didn't appear to have heard her call, as his head hung on his chest and he didn't bother to glance up. Numerous wires and tubes were attached to his body which was slumped on the floor, unmoving. Erin knew that those tubes were filled with a liquid that was formed from water stones. But that alone would not harm Abadon enough to leave him in this condition. Turner had said that his scientists had added something to the formula to counteract the added type value that the Char possessed.

His spirit was broken. After hours, then days, then weeks of struggling for freedom, his battered body could no longer take the stress and he finally collapsed on the floor. He was not defeated, for he would never give up, but he was now without the strength and the ability to escape. Abadon was weak, both in body and in mind.

"Abadon," Erin whispered and she gently held his head in her cut, bleeding hands. "Abadon," she said again, crying, "Abadon, please wake up. I'm here now. Everything will be okay. We can leave."

Then slowly, so very slowly, Abadon opened his clear blue eyes and looked into Erin's dull brown ones. She smiled in relief.

"Erin?" he coughed. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again either," she cried, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I thought for sure I'd die trying to get here, but I didn't care; I couldn't bare the thought of you suffering because of me and I couldn't go through another injection of Iso and keep my sanity. Abadon, we have to get out of here now."

"I've tried," Abadon answered. "I can't break free."

Erin stood up and examined the tubes. "But I wasn't here to help you then, and I'm here now." Erin touched one of the wires. It felt almost as cold as ice.

An explosion in the direction of the doorway drew Erin's attention. The resistance of her friends had not been enough, and the guards and their pokemon had broken through the barrier!

"Chasm!" cried Erin.

"They were too much!" answered the umbreon, continuing to fight despite the disadvantage. "They brought reinforcements!"

"And not just any reinforcements."

That voice! It couldn't be! Erin's blood chilled as she saw none other than Charles Turner emerge from the surrounding dust.

"I must say, Miss Erin, I never expected something this rash from you." He looked anything but pleased, his usual smug grin replaced with a frown. "You have made a grave mistake today that you will not have the chance to repeat. Once I have you back under my control and your pitiful pokemon back in their respective cages you will spend so much time under the influence of Iso that you will wish you were dead. I will not tolerate your impudence. You will obey my every word from now until your grave. It is up to you to decide how long that will be."

Erin was shaking with rage. She now stood as a barrier between Turner and Abadon, since the Char was in no condition to battle. He had brought pokemon with him, and they warded off any attacks from Chasm and Khyt. Nero, still so young and not yet trained for endurance, had already reached his limit in creating protective force fields.

"I will not allow you hurt my pokemon any longer!" she cried in frustration. Her Bo staff reached maximum length in her hand. "I won't let you!"

"Miss Erin, I highly doubt that will be an effective weapon against this." Turner withdrew a gun, pointing it directly at Erin's forehead. "Even if we were to battle, I have rested for a few hours, whereas you have been awake for almost a full twenty-four day, pushing your limit the entire time. There is no doubt that I would be victorious."

Erin realized the truth in Turner's words. She could not win this battle. Even before she retracted her staff and dropped her arms to her side, Turner could see her courage wane in her eyes. He smiled to himself once more. "Come," he said as he lowered his gun.

"Erin," whispered the exhausted Char. "Don't give up."

"I have to," she said in reply. "There's no way I can win."

Erin began to walk toward Turner so he could escort her to the Iso chamber. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She had survived Iso before; a dose that lasted longer shouldn't matter much. She couldn't tell how much time had passed while she was under its influence anyway.

Then she though of Abadon, who had suffered so much already and yet still told her not to give up. Then there was Chasm and Khyt, who were still fighting, even though their strength was about spent. Even Nero continued to shout encouragement at them. Abadon had said not to give up. She could not win against Turner on her own, Erin knew this, but she would die trying, she decided.

At this point Erin had made it to where Turner was waiting for her, and the two began to walk side by side to the door, which was now more of a giant hole in the wall rather than an actual door.

"You'll see, Miss Erin, this life isn't so bad once you get used to it."

"Yes, sir," she replied. Then, without warning, her staff extended at the exact angle needed to knock the gun from Turner's hand. At his cry of surprise she spun away, expecting an attack, but instead Turner ran for his gun. "Chasm!" Erin cried, pointing toward the weapon on the ground.

In understanding, Chasm performed the same action to the firearm that she had to the pile of trash in Mr. Kline's closet: she sent it to another dimension. Once he realized what was happening, Turner gave up attempting to retrieve the gun and directed his attack once again on Erin, his "ultimate agent." But she was ready.

Erin spun the staff in front of her to get the feel for it and then swung at Turner's head. He expected the attack, however, and dodged to the left, then sprung backward off his hands to land on his feet, just missing another blow from the staff. He kicked at Erin, but she, too, jumped out of the way, only she used the staff as leverage on her landing and raised it at the last second to block another attack.

"You are a fool if you believe you can defeat me," said Turner, attempting to distract her by the sound of his voice.

"Then I'm a fool," Erin replied, unfazed.

She kicked while in a crouch, attempting to knock Turner's legs out from under him, but he dodged the other way, just as Erin thought he would. She had the Bo staff ready and slammed it into his side. Turner was surprised at being caught off guard, but he did not loose his footing.

In a rush of energy the two of them came together, fists, feet, and weapon flying, each attempting to get the upper hand. Erin was slightly more confident since she made the first hit, but that didn't mean she was in the clear. The opponents fought so swiftly that most humans wouldn't be able to keep up with the speed of their attacks. Everything was on the line here; they both knew that.

A foot caught Erin in her left side and her ribs screamed in protest. Was one of them broken? Too bad; she'd have to fight through the pain. She swung back with her Bo staff and aimed the swift blow straight for Turner's right temple.

But he deflected the blow mere centimeters away from his scull and twisted the staff right out of Erin's deft fingers! In an attack even quicker than the one Erin just initiated, Turner brought the weapon over his head and swung downward. With no time to dodge, the best Erin could do was bring both arms above her head to block the blow, and a sickening _crack_ was heard as she cried out from the pain in her left arm, which took the brunt of the assault.

Erin rolled to her right before the next attack could come and was on her feet a few yards away in mere seconds. A dark bruise was already forming under the skin where the staff had made contact with her arm. Definitely cracked, she decided; if not broken, than her bone was definitely cracked. She clenched and unclenched her fingers on that arm and ground her teeth at the pain it caused to do so. Definitely cracked.

All this time, Abadon was looking on in frustration. He was stuck where he was. If he even tried to stand up, the movement it caused would trigger the suction in the tubes and the liquid would pour into his bloodstream. He was helpless to defend himself, but worse, he was unable to help his friends. And by the looks of it, Erin was loosing.

Not wanting to give his foolish agent-in-training any time to rest, Turner raced after her, staff in hand and ready to strike. To his complete surprise, Erin ran away! She wasn't even running for the opening in the wall, but was headed for a different wall entirely. He didn't let up on the chase, but if Erin kept running, she would slam into the wall and knock herself out. He thought her foolish, but not that foolish.

Abadon watched as Erin made her way toward the wall, and seemingly toward her doom. In the short time they had known each other, Erin and Abadon had formed a tight bond, and, though Erin's actions at the moment might seem the actions of a fool, the Char had a pretty good idea of what he thought Erin was up to.

Abadon was right: Erin was no fool; she knew exactly what she was doing. She would not stop or slow down as she approached the wall. When she reached it, she would scale it. At her current speed, Erin would be able to take a few steps upward before she would be forced to leap off, but once she did, she would end up behind a startled Turner and would be able to catch him off guard, perhaps long enough to retrieve her Bo staff. Even though the weapon was given to her by Turner to further her training, Erin still thought of it as hers, and she would not allow it to stay in the hands of this psychopath.

Abadon knew what Erin was planning, and from his point of view on the ground, he knew she would succeed, but he could also see what she was not expecting. Abadon was far back enough to notice when the confused look on Turner's face became one of understanding. Turner now knew the attack Erin would make, and he would be ready for her upon her landing. He would not be taken by surprise, and that would be the end of the fight.

Erin would scale the wall, take a mighty leap backward, land directly behind Turner, and then fall prey to his attack. She might even die.

Abadon's breathing had become increasingly faster over the course of the fight, and he was currently seething, wanting nothing more than to rise and defeat this enemy that was trying to destroy his friends, and knowing full well that doing so might kill him. But wasn't that what Erin was attempting? She was fighting an opponent that she knew full well would probably defeat her for no other reason than she would not allow herself to give up. He had told her that. He had told her not to give up, and here he was, lying on the ground like a pampered skitty.

"No. She will not have to fight alone." Abadon lifted his head and then moved his arms so as to support his weight once he began to rise. Even that small amount of movement sent small streams of the liquid into his veins and caused him discomfort. Abadon ignored it.

As Erin leapt backward, Abadon was just getting his footing. As she landed, he took a step forward, gritting his teeth at the flow of poison into his body. And then the Char cried out in desperation as the first human he ever trusted was smacked on the side of the head at close range with a strong metal staff, sending her across the room in his direction.

"NO!" he cried, though it sounded more like a guttural roar.

Erin moaned and tried, unsuccessfully, to rise. Turner was closing in. All other motion in the room had come to a stop; the other pokemon and guards either too tired to rise, unconscious, or dead. Abadon pulled against the cords and wires, no longer feeling the pain on a conscious level.

Right behind his eyes the charizard felt a growing pressure. It was in his lungs, too. He imagined to himself that what he was feeling must be what a human or non-fire type must feel when burned. Either that, or it was what someone experienced right before they died.

No, Abadon realized, it couldn't be that, because he had felt this burning before, twice in fact, though the second time was much stronger. Even that, though, was no comparison to what he felt now. It was the same fire that had consumed him, that consumes all fire pokemon, when they evolve. But Abadon can't evolve, because the charizard is the highest evolutionary stage of the Char.

Erin rolled over on her side and coughed up blood. What had she just been doing? She couldn't remember. Her side hurt, though she didn't know why. For that matter, her arm and head hurt as well, though the head was probably the worst. That must be why the room kept spinning. The words _definitely cracked_ kept floating through her mind, but she couldn't remember what significance they held. Wait… _Abadon_!

Everything came rushing back to her. Erin glanced up to see Turner, an insane grimace on his face, running toward her at top speed holding her Bo staff like a baseball bat and ready to strike. But then he screeched to a sudden halt, his expression moving to surprise and then to fear as he lowered the weapon.

Erin dared to look behind her and realized where the thunderous noise in the room was coming from. Abadon, eyes glowing white, was breaking free of his bonds.

Abadon remembered one of the first non-lethal conversations he had held with Chasm. She had begun the exchange by stating that the stripes on his back had saved his life. Now, while it was not the stripes directly, what had aided him in the battle and given him the upper hand was the fact that he had an added type factored into his system, a type not usually given to fire pokemon.

As a child, this type advantage had made him stronger, quicker, and an all around better fighter than the other children his age. But children never see the good in a situation such as this. All they saw was the stripes, and how it made him different from them, so they excluded him and eventually drove him into exile. Shortly after, he met Erin, and then Chasm.

While Chasm insisted his stripes were a good thing, Abadon hadn't wanted to hear anything about it, still convinced that they only made him different, which caused him to be an outcast. He didn't want to be special; he only wanted to be accepted.

He had been accepted in this group, Abadon realized, and this group had become his family, strange though that family might be. This man was trying to tear that family apart, and Abadon could not let that happen.

As he looked inside himself for the strength to rise to his feet, Abadon found something else that he had not expected. He had found understanding with what he was and what he was capable of.

Fire by itself was a strong force indeed, and Darkness alone had great power, but within this certain charizard, for whatever reason, these two energies had become one. It wasn't merely that he was a fire and dark type; Abadon had the ability to combine the two to create something greater.

It was from this understanding that he was able to repel the affect of the liquid pouring into his veins and move forward, thrashing and biting at his confines. Through his seemingly bestial behavior, Erin saw the most beautiful creature she had ever laid eyes on. He would be her savior.

Abadon opened his mouth and released a blazing pillar of black fire. His tail flame was black as well. It wasn't so much that the fire was black; Erin would have been able to shrug that off no problem. Once, in a chemistry class at the Academy, her and her classmates had added different components to a contained flame to make it turn green or pink or shoot out small sparks. The fire that came from Abadon's mouth though, seemed to repel all light it came in contact with. No, it wasn't that either: reflected light always came back to the eyes. This fire was absorbing all light, as a black hole would in space, which was an oxymoron in and of itself. Dark fire; it didn't seem possible.

Of course, all this flew through Erin's brain in a split second, because in the meantime, Abadon was crashing through the remnants of the electric glass barrier that no longer did anyone any good.

He ran toward her just as Turner pivoted to run away, but was much faster than the human and caught up to him before he could take two steps. Abadon hit Turner with a backhand, causing him to crash into the wall that Erin had scaled mere moments earlier. He didn't rise, and Erin assumed me wouldn't anytime soon.

Still on an energy rush, Abadon picked up Erin in his arms and headed for the opening, Chasm, Khyt, and Nero following.

"Turn right!" called Erin, pointing in the direction that she remembered from the map as the way out.

The group ran though a number of labs and research facilities on their quest for the outdoors, and Abadon scorched every one, his dark flamethrower burning and then melting everything like acid. After a while, however, Abadon's eyes returned to their normal shade of blue and the flame on his tail turned back to orange.

"This turn here should be it!" said Erin happily, still in the Char's arms. "Then it's just strait on though."

But of course that would have been too easy, and a hero's escape was never easy, thought Erin, as a small group of koffing and weezing came around the corner.

"I'll take care of them," said Abadon, taking a deep breath, ready to blast their new opponents with a strong fire attack.

"Wait!" called Erin. The poison pokemon were currently pumping out noxious gasses from the pours in their bodies. In the last three months, Erin had been taught what those gases were, and knew that it was flammable. "Just perform an Ember attack!"

"What? Why so weak an attack?" he asked.

"Just do it! Then run for the exit as fast as possible! There's no time for explanations!"

Without another word Abadon blew out a few stray flickering embers toward the laughing pokemon across the hall. Then, without bothering to see what damage that simple attack could have done, he ran in a full sprint down the hallway toward their freedom.

Khyt went first and slashed open the door, and just when they had all gotten out, that whole portion of the Agency went up in smoke, the force of the explosion knocking them to the ground.

"Wow!" said Nero, wide-eyed. "What was that? I've never seen so much fire in one place at once."

Erin coughed and sat up, trying to hold her side, arm, and head all at once. "Fire and flammable gases don't mix well," she told the mew. "Big boom." She turned her attention toward Abadon. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine for now, but we won't be safe here for long. We should leave in case someone follows." He lowered his wing so that Erin could climb on his back for flight. When she consented he said, "Chasm, you too."

The last time they had flown, Chasm had said that she never wanted to do so again. She hadn't changed her mind on the subject, but there were times to do what you wanted to do, and times to do what you had to do. At this point, whether she wanted to fly again or not, she knew it was the only way to complete their escape. With only a moment's hesitation, the umbreon took her place in Erin's lap on the back of the Char.

A scyther's wings were made for short flights along the ground, with only the occasional journey above the trees. Regardless, Khyt would fly alongside the Char, with Nero zipping around his head.

It wasn't long after they took off they were forced to land. Sheer exhaustion had conquered. They had made headway, and traveling over the forest instead of through it was easier, but there was no way that Abadon and Khyt could expend any more energy in doing so.

The unlikely group wandered through the near-dead forest, occasionally finding nuts or a tree with a few pieces of fruit, though nothing to ease the hunger in their stomachs.

When night finally fell, all of them went strait to sleep. Even Chasm, the very embodiment of darkness and a creature of the night, wasted no time in catching up on her Z's.

The next day would be better. They might be hungry and tired, but they were free, and that's all that mattered to them at the moment.

Finally, they were free.

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_A/N: Well guys, it might have taken a while, butI finally uploaded another chapter. Yay for Erin! They escaped! But is it over? Bum-bum-bummmm. I reaallly like this chapter. And, I wrote almost all of it in one day. Over half, at least. Please review, as your comments are much appreciated, and I'll try to have the next chapter up sooner, though don't hold your breath._


	24. Gods

_Cold.__ Everything was so cold. She couldn't see anything and she didn't know where she was. Her balance was askew because she didn't even know which way was up and which was down. Her lungs were burning, and she realized that it was because she wasn't breathing. She took a breath, hoping to relieve the pain, only now her lungs were icy cold; as cold, if not more so, than the rest of her body. Breathing wasn't helping; something was wrong; no air was getting to her lungs. She was going to die. Panic began to take over. The darkness was overpowering. She was going to die!_

Erin lurched up in her sleep, gasping for air and sweating heavily. Her side burned in protest. It took her a while to gather her surroundings. After spending so much time at the Agency, suddenly waking up in the middle of the night to the open air was a drastic and terrifying change. A nightmare had woken her up. Erin couldn't remember the last time she had had a nightmare, even with everything she had gone through under Turner's command.

In the dream, she had been under water, and was being tossed and turned with such force that she couldn't tell which way it was to the surface. She had not been able to hold her breath any longer, so had been forced to release it and breathe in, only to have her lungs fill with water. And everything was so _cold_. But why had she had the dream? Erin tried to figure this out as she lay back down next to Abadon. She had never come close to drowning, or even known someone who had almost died in water. Except-

"Khyt," Nero whispered, sniffing. "I had a bad dream…"

"Come closer, little one," the scyther answered understandingly, drawing the mew child nearer to him in comfort. "What was it about?"

"I don't know," said Nero, his tears drying. "I didn't know where I was, but I was really cold, and my insides hurt."

"It's alright," Khyt whispered back. "Everything's okay now. I'm here to protect you."

And with that the two were asleep once more.

But Erin did not directly fall back asleep. On the contrary; she was now wide awake and extremely confused. Nero had almost drowned when they had found him, and now he had had a dream about it. Erin had also experienced that dream, though she didn't know why. She tried to think back on everything she had learned about psychic pokemon at the Academy. A move that was innately bred into all psychic pokemon was Teleport, so that they could leave instantly anytime they wanted and go to any place that they could imagine in their mind, as long as they had a hold on where they were presently. Because of this, if they didn't take an immediate liking to their trainer, they could teleport away and never be heard from again.

The scientists who cloned the pokemon didn't like it at all when this happened, because one of their creations was simply running amok. Not many Academy trainers were awarded a psychic pokemon as a result. Only the brightest, calmest, and most patient students would be gifted with a psychic, and then the duo usually receded to some remote area to continue to develop the pokemon's, and occasionally the trainer's, psychic powers. The scientists couldn't study them thoroughly because the pokemon would always teleport away if they felt uncomfortable. This was highly discouraging.

Despite this, the trainers of psychic pokemon have told a few professors a bit of information on what it takes to train them. Complete and utter trust is the main component. If a pokemon doesn't trust its trainer, it will leave via teleportation. So, it takes trust to get the pokemon to stay. But a link must be forged as well; a link in the mind. Most psychic types are extremely reclusive and speaking for them is rare, other than to execute an attack. A link between the minds of the trainer and the pokemon is forged for communicational and emotional purposes. It allows for instant relay between the two, but they also know what the other is thinking, though it is possible to shut or dim that certain connection. Regardless, the mind link is the psychic type's way of showing complete devotion to their trainer.

This is what happened, Erin decided. Nero linked his mind with hers, thus the reason that she dreamed what Nero was dreaming. Oddly comforted at this thought, Erin closed her eyes, moved closer to the warm body of the Char, and returned to the land of dreams, though this time it was void of nightmares.

0000000

"Erin."

She heard her name, but she didn't want to acknowledge it. That meant she had to get up, and she was much too tired for that. In the last two days, she had barely slept at all.

"Erin."

There was that voice again.

"Erin, you have to get up now. We should get going."

It was Abadon. Of course it was Abadon; he had been taking care of her as if he were her mother ever since they escaped Turner's grasp. Despite his own wounds, he was worried about her. Erin opened her eyes to the early dawn. She would rather have slept in, but Abadon was right: they needed to get going in case they were being followed.

"Morning, Knob Head," she said to the face of the Char standing over her. He smiled and then stood up so he was out of her field of vision. Erin yawned and tried to pull herself up, but then winced as she put weight on her left arm. Her side didn't hurt as much as it did yesterday, and despite a large bruise, she was certain that no further damage was done. As she stood up, however, Erin's head began to throb. While holding her damaged arm and steadying herself so she didn't fall back down, she glanced up to see her companions looking at her with worry. "I'm fine," she said.

They weren't convinced, naturally, but Erin didn't want them worrying about her too much. After all, she wasn't the only one who was hurt. Abadon had patches of dried blood all over his body where the tubes had been ripped from his flesh. Chasm had cleaned any blood from her body already, but she had been favoring her right shoulder as they traveled yesterday, and Khyt didn't seem as if he could stand another battle, no matter how short. Nero was the only one who escaped without a scratch, but their actions the day before had taken a lot out of the little guy. And then there was that dream…

Out of habit Erin looked around for her pack, remembered she hadn't had it for a while, and sighed. They didn't have anything to eat for breakfast. "Let's head out," she told the others. Of course, she didn't need to tell them that; everyone else was ready. They had waited as long as they dared before waking her up, allowing her to sleep as long as possible. She began walking in the same direction they had been traveling the day before, even though none of them knew where they were headed.

There wasn't much conversation while the group traveled. None of them had talked much over the last three months and the ability didn't feel the need to reveal itself again too rapidly. Each was lost in their own thoughts. In addition, conversing would not only rob them of breath needed for their swift walk away from Turner, but it might also assist in giving away their position.

Erin walked in front and Abadon took up the rear, as he usually did, so he could see everyone and leap to their side if need be. He was a protector, and even three months trapped by some sort of evolution stone liquid couldn't drain that from his system. Erin smiled to herself, but the smile quickly faded. Her thoughts turned to Celeste. She hadn't checked to see if it was actually her in the pokeball, because there hadn't been any time at the moment. Erin wouldn't bring her out until they reached a body of water because the milotic would be more comfortable there, and even if it wasn't her, there was nothing Erin could do about now. Find out now or later, she was stuck with what she got.

They trekked along in silence for a while, stopping only twice: once to gather nuts they found and another time to pick small fruit from a dying tree. If they were to survive another couple of days, they would need to find outside help. Abadon was still too weak to fly for long.

As if on queue, Chasm whispered a halt that was more of a hiss and the group froze in place. "I smell something," she said. The others lifted their noses as well, save for Erin, but the umbreon had the most advanced sense of smell and would be able to catch even the faintest scent in the air.

"Friend of foe?" was Erin's question.

Chasm sniffed again. "Hard to tell from this distance. I don't perceive malice in the smell, so it very well could be friend. Or possible friend, depending on whether they want to help beings in our position. They might be too frightened, but it would be worth the shot, that it would."

"Very well," Erin began, taking charge. "Let's head in that direction, take a look around, and then decide after we observe whoever it is."

Chasm, still favoring her right shoulder, though trying not to show it, took the lead and headed upwind, slightly to their left. The group walked five minutes at as swift a pace they could all handle before Erin noticed a drastic change in the forest around them. The trees suddenly had large healthy leaves and their bark was strong rather than brittle. There was grass underfoot and bushes all around. When the wind blew it no longer felt like the cold was entering her bones and drew happiness as the sun alighted on her face. Surely whoever lived here would assist them.

Then they came upon a clearing. Erin halted and her pokemon with her as she cautiously looked around, not wanting their hopes to be shattered. There was a house in the middle of the clearing. It wasn't large, but it had a number of rooms from the looks of things, and was well kept and clean. _Please_, Erin pleaded silently, _please let this work in our favor_.

The door began to open and Erin tensed up, ready to fight if need be and desperately wishing that she had been able to grab her Bo staff as she escaped from the Agency. "Stand ready," she warned her friends.

"Oh, hello." The person who exited the house was nothing more than a little old lady, bent over from all the years gravity had a pull on her body. Her wrinkled face was creased with more laughter lines than worry lines, which showed in her disposition. She was surprised at seeing them there, but thankfully didn't seem frightened at their appearance (which was probably a good thing because she looked as if she might have a heart attack at the slightest twinge of fear). "Can I help you?"

Erin relaxed noticeably and took a step forward. She could feel the others attempting to look as less menacing as possible. "Yes, please- I mean, you can- I…" Erin was having a hard time getting out what she was trying to say. "What I mean is, my friends and I are extremely hungry and we've been traveling for a long time without much rest and we would be eternally grateful if you could help us."

The old lady hesitated only as long as it took for her to look them over. She noticed Nero standing next to Khyt and Erin almost turned and fled when she remembered they had forgotten to hide him, but the lady didn't seem to mind. Erin couldn't be certain, but she thought a smile flashed across the lady's face.

"Of course I'll help you!" She turned around and motioned them inside. "I could tell you were tired and hungry when I first laid eyes on you."

As the group entered her house and followed her to the kitchen, the lady continued to talk as if she had known them all her life. "Being a trainer in these days is never easy when you do it the old-fashioned way. But I will tell you, those who survive and don't give up become the better trainer for it. Nowadays," she said with a wave of her hand, opening up cabinets and taking out much more food than it seemed would fit, "most trainers stay in the cities and simply train in coliseums. That gives the pokemon battle experience, sure, but not world experience, and it's the two together that create the best fighters."

By this time Erin and her group of pokemon were hurriedly devouring the food that was laid before them while at the same time attempting to do so politely.

"You seem to know a lot about pokemon battles," said Erin through a mouthful of bread. "Were you a pokemon trainer too?"

"Oh, heavens no," answered the lady with a smile and another wave of her hand. "But I've known a few in my time, and I've learned tons of little tidbits in my research."

Erin swallowed. "What kind of re- Oh! You must think I'm so rude; I didn't even introduce myself before barging in on you! My name's Erin, and that's Abadon, Chasm, Khyt, and… and Nero." Since their host had already seen him, Erin couldn't pretend he wasn't there.

"Not at all, dearies, not at all. I didn't introduce myself either it seems. My name is Artemis Kun, though please call me Artemis. Ms. Kun makes me sound so old." Erin smiled at her carefree attitude. She was so grateful to have found her.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Artemis. What can we ever do to repay you?"

"Just keep me company for a while and engage me in a conversation. More pokemon live in my clearing than in the dying forest beyond, but they're not much for conversationalists."

Erin smiled again. "We shouldn't stay for long, but a little while wouldn't hurt."

Artemis waved her hand again, dismissing what Erin had just said. "Nonsense. From what I can tell, someone's after you." Erin froze in mid-bite. "But I'll simply ask the next critter I see to tell the others to look out for any intruders. Word will spread fast and in no time we'll have a giant security blanket. Spend the night here and get some rest."

Erin looked at her friends, who were all so tired and mentally drained. "Alright; one night. We'll leave in the morning, but we'll rest for now. Thank you again."

"Stop thanking me; I'm beginning to get embarrassed." Artemis made Erin and the others feel completely at ease. They could finally rest in peace.

But while they were eating, their host was able to get a better look at them, and what she saw concerned her. "You are all injured!" she cried. Erin sputtered a bit at her outburst but Abadon kept right on eating.

Artemis would not stand for that. She went strait to a closet in an adjacent room and returned with all kinds of medicine and medical tape. "You never know what can happen to you out here, so I always keep prepared." She bandaged Erin's head and inspected her side, concluding that she had a bruised rib but that it would soon heal itself. Erin's arm was delicate, and definitely harbored a cracked bone, as she had suspected. Artemis spread a strange herbal gel on the girl's arm before wrapping it in medical tape. She informed Erin that it was a medicine of her own making and no, she wouldn't reveal its ingredients. "Magicians never reveal their secrets," was her reply. As if this had anything to do with magic. She also bandaged up the pokemon and gave them their respective amounts of healing potions and the like.

Abadon stuffed the last of the food into his large mouth and asked, "What was it you said about research?"

"Oh, yes," said their new friend. "Follow me into my library, if you would."

Erin, intrigued, looked at the others, shrugged her shoulders, and stood up to follow the old lady. When she entered the library Erin's mouth dropped in wonder at all the books and notepads that filled the room. There must be hundreds! Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the walls held pictures of pokemon, but not just any pokemon…

"The gods…" whispered Erin, almost as if she had entered upon holy ground. She approached one of the pictures and studied the intricate detail the artist had put into his work. It must have taken him weeks to perfect something so amazingly beautiful. The one she was currently inspecting was of a pokemon she had never personally seen before. It was both feline- and canine-like in body-build, a dull yellow in color for the most part, and appeared to house a cloud on its back. The odd mixture of texture of the painting gave the illusion that the cloud was moving.

"Very good," said Aurora, breaking Erin from her thoughts. "There aren't many people your age, trainer or no, that are able to identify the gods when they see them. Though," and here she gave a light chuckle, "not all of these beings are gods."

Erin looked briefly at the other pictures, more intrigued than ever. She recognized the pokemon Entei, who was rumored to be the firegod, though this was mere speculation. Why hadn't she looked up more on the Lost Pokemon when she still had her pokedex? Chronal would be disappointed in her for loosing it, though if she explained the circumstances he would probably forgive her. She also recognized a picture of Celebi, a forest guardian. And there was a picture of a mew! Either it was the same age as Nero or mew never aged physically. There were two or three other pictures Erin thought she might have seen before, but she couldn't put any names to them.

"But I thought all the Lost Pokemon were gods," said Erin.

"You thought mew were gods too when we found Nero, that you did, until Khyt filled you in on their origin," corrected Chasm.

Erin nodded in agreement.

Smiling, Artemis said, "To answer your earlier question, I research the Legendary Pokemon, or Lost Pokemon, as they have come to be called. It's really more of a hobby."

It was Abadon who answered, "This is quite a large hobby." Or perhaps it was more of a smart-alecky reply than a comment. He was better at those anyway.

"Yes, well, I only call it that because I don't get paid for my work. I do it because I enjoy it."

"Don't get paid!" said Erin, dumbfounded. "Do you know what universities would pay you to get their hands on this kind of information?"

"I suspect quite a fortune," Artemis confessed, "since I'm the only person I know of who has this much information on the Legendaries. But, they have kept their secrets from humankind for so long, I think it would be wrong to show them to everyone without their consent."

Erin realized that Artemis was telling her that if the Legendary Pokemon had wanted to let everyone know they existed, then they already would have.

"Through my research, I have learned much more than even researchers in the past have known. For example, that one," here she pointed at one of the pictures, "Groudon,the cotenant pokemon, and the one over there, Entei, the volcano pokemon, are brothers."

"What?" asked Erin, confounded. "I didn't know any of the gods were related."

"Oh, yes," continued their new friend. "They are close brothers who are the best of friends and share the mantle of Firegod. In fact, the goddess Suicune is their older sister."

Erin turned her head to study the aurora pokemon. She recognized this one now that a name was put to it. In legends, Suicune was the most beautiful pokemon that ever existed, and more than one species envied her for it. Suicune was kind and gentle but, being the Legendary of water and wind, making her angry would result in a violent storm of which no one wanted to be on the receiving end. Then again, it was probably a good idea to make friends with any god, rather than piss them off.

"How could a water pokemon be the sibling of two fire pokemon? Things don't happen that way," said Abadon

Artemis smiled at him knowingly. "And until recently, a charizard could not be a dark type, am I correct?"

"You got me there," he consented to the cheerful old lady.

"The sea basin pokemon, Kyogre, is that one over there." Artemis motioned to a picture of a large whale-pokemon with strange red markings. He was a water type. "That one believes himself to be quite the charmer. Most girls would fall into his arms, but not Suicune. He has been trying to win her love for eons, it seems, but she won't give in. He'll keep trying and she'll keep declining for all eternity more than likely."

"What about those two?" asked Erin, pointing to the only painting that held two pokemon. The pokemon were both large white birds, only one was accented with blue and the other with red.

"Oh," Artemis replied, nodding her head as if recalling a fond memory. "Those two are even closer than Groudon and Entei. The larger blue one is Latios, and the smaller red one is Latias. They have cared for each other through everything, and have endured more than most. That is why the gods decided to make them Gifted." Upon noticing Erin's raised eyebrows, signaling that she hadn't a clue as to what "gifted" entailed, Artemis elaborated. "Basically, they are the only ones of their kind and they'll live forever. They were "gifted" with immortality, but only as long as their bond could hold. Originally, I believe, the gods wanted a game and so chose these two, telling them that they would live only as long as their love did. Once a hundred years or so passed and their bond was as strong as ever the gods realized that it would probably never falter. The two had been through so much already that there was nothing they couldn't face together. It's quite a touching story and one of my favorites. Latios and Latias have great power now, but that simply comes from living as long as they have."

Erin smiled; glad she had a chance to listen to the legend. "I had never heard that lesson before."

"Not many have," Artemis answered. "Now," she said, continuing, "The thunder pokemon you were looking at when you first entered is Raikou. He is good friends to the fire gods, but bitter rivals with Kyogre. That rivalry stems from the fact that Suicune prefers Raikou's company to that of Kyogre. Personally, I think she's sweet on him." The fondness that the old lady had in telling her stories was contagious. "It makes for a nice romantic tale, anyway."

Nero hopped up onto a nearby table and asked innocently, "Why do you have a picture of me on the wall?"

Artemis smiled wide, her eyes lost within wrinkles. "It's not of you, little one," she said, patting his head. "But it is of another mew, and that's quite observant of you." This complement caused Nero's chest to swell.

"Careful," cautioned Khyt, "or his head will get so big he won't be able to fly."

Artemis proceeded to answer Nero's question. "Despite general thinking being that mew are gods," here Chasm looked sideways at Erin with a knowing look, causing the human to roll her eyes, "they are in fact regular pokemon. Now, they do have the capacity and the ability to become quite strong, but that is usually only accomplished by years and years of training with one another. There are so few of them now, though." Again, Artemis appeared to be lost in thought, only this time a tear of regret materialized in one eye. But as fast as it emerged, it was gone.

"What about the Legendary Birds I've heard about? Are they gods?" asked Khyt.

"Oh, heavens, no!" cried Artemis, shocked. "They might fancy themselves to be, but they are certainly not up to the level of the others. They don't live forever, either, like the gods do. That is the maid difference. All five of them; Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, Lugia, and Ho-oh; are all phoenixes." She waited a beat to let that sink in. "When a phoenix reaches the end of its life, it dies and becomes its most basic element, only to rise again the next morning, reborn. They are not immortal, because they do die, but have an infinite number of lives to live, and that's more than most."

"I thought a phoenix was only a bird of fire," said Abadon.

"That is a general misconception," agreed Artemis. "While Moltres would become a pile of ash, Ho-oh would become a small mixture of photons and light waves, and Articuno would become tiny ice crystals. They are all phoenixes."

"This is all so interesting!" cried Erin, who had been silent for a while. "I never knew there was so much to the legends of the Lost Pokemon! I never knew there were so many, either. While I was at the Academy I thought the legends were just a bunch of boring stories that only weirdoes paid any attention to. No offence, of course; I didn't know how interesting they were. That's probably because so little was known about them, though."

"That is most probable. One has to know where to look."

Artemis continued to tell Erin and her pokemon about the Legendary Pokemon. She told the trainer about the stoic Rayquaza, the rarely-heard from Jirachi, and Celebi, who loves the forest more than anything and is heartbroken at what it has become. She also told Erin a few stories she knew about the different gods and their counterparts. Erin soaked it all up like a sponge.

But soon it was time to eat again. Erin helped their kind host in the kitchen to prepare. Abadon offered to help, but he was simply too big and would have gotten in the way. He smiled to himself and went outside to play with Nero in the clearing. Thanks to the other pokemon in the forest who had promised to let them know the second they sensed danger, none of them had the fear that Turner and/or his men would take them off guard.

"My knowledge doesn't strictly lie with the gods, though that is my area of expertise. I know some other myths as well," Artemis told Erin as she cut up some lettuce for a salad. "There is a strange myth about warriors who die while committing an act of great courage. Granted, it is a pokemon myth, so the warriors would be pokemon, and it does have something to do with the gods, but they only come in toward the end. In a way, I suppose, this legend could be related to the phoenixes."

"That sounds interesting," Erin replied, warming some water on the stove. "How does it go?"

"The great warriors of the pokemon kingdom are obviously strong, or else they wouldn't be considered great. And their particular strength lies in the good actions they perform. There are evil warriors, naturally, but they are always forgotten, whereas the good warriors are always remembered by someone, no matter how few. Well, say a good warrior is in a battle against an evil force that wishes to extinguish life. Now say this warrior is defending this life and is protecting it in a way that the life is unable to do by itself. If the warrior dies while in defense of the life, then, because of all the power in their body being released all at once, the warrior will be reduced to their most basic element, rather like the phoenixes when they die. However, unlike the phoenixes, the warrior is not resurrected the next morning."

Erin was still, a deep sadness welling up within her. "I'm not sure I like that legend as much…"

"It's not me happiest one, to be sure, but it's not over yet."

"What else could there be?"

"Listen carefully," Artemis said, equally calm. "The warrior will not be resurrected the next morning, but there is a chance for them to be brought back to life. One who cares deeply for this warrior, who would endure any trial for them, must travel to the resting place of their god."

"What does that mean?" asked Erin.

"It means, where their element was born. For some, mainly the dark and light type pokemon, no one but those elements could traverse in that realm. If a human went to where the darkgod lived, they would quickly become insane, and being surrounded by the brilliance of the lightgod would have an equal yet opposite effect. Their mind wouldn't recede within themselves and cause insanity, but would branch outward and they would become a vegetable. Either way, there are some places a human was never meant to travel. They really shouldn't wander into any god's home, but if they're on a quest to restore a warrior's life and are able to withstand the test inside, then it is permitted."

"A god's _home_?" asked Erin, perplexed.

"Well, it's more of a place where this realm and the realm of the gods meet. In this spot a person would exist both on an earthly plane and an ethereal plane. There are not many of a strong enough mind to withstand the power residing there. The watergod's resting place would naturally be underwater, most likely in some ancient ruins or another, surrounded by all those weird patterns that the light makes as it's refracted by the water's surface. And the firegods make their home in a mighty active volcano where only the most foolish of travelers would dare wander. Or so the legend goes," Artemis added as an afterthought.

By this time, dinner was ready and they all gathered around the table for a fellowship among friends. They didn't all sit at the table, naturally, as a pokemon's body structure is not made for such a thing, but all were nearby.

They had been extremely lucky that they had found Artemis, Erin thought to herself. Her head throbbed less and now that her torso was wrapped in bandages, her bruised rib didn't bother her at all. Her arm still caused discomfort, but not near as much as the day before. Her pokemon, too, had been bandaged up cared for where needed.

"Thank you, Artemis, for everything you have done for us here," she said.

"Nonsense," she replied, not one to take appraisal. "You have provided me with much-valued company and have been extremely kind to me as well. It is I who thank you."

Soon after, their stomachs full once more, the group went to sleep, using spare blankets and sheets Artemis had in her closet, except Abadon, who wasn't allowed a blanket once Erin remembered her first interaction with a Pokecenter. Erin didn't think too fondly of Pokecenters, considering what had happened the last three times she had entered one.

Despite all this and what the group had been forced to endure the last three months, they fell into a deep, comforted sleep.

Erin didn't remember the last time she had slept so peacefully…


	25. Bitter Reunion

_Hey, all. Got this one out sooner than the last one, thankfully. What strange happenings are to occur? You must read to find out!_

0000000

"If you're going to get anywhere today, you should probably leave soon."

Erin looked up from her bowl of cereal at Artemis. It was late in the morning and there had been no hint that Turner and his men had been chasing them. Maybe he wasn't going to chase after them at all. Maybe he finally realized that he could never own her and gave up the battle.

"You're right," she replied. Even if they weren't being followed, Erin and her group could not stay there. They would all get restless, herself included, and would soon require the open road ahead of them so satisfy their wanderlust. She could not expect their new friend to harbor them for long. No, they would need to leave soon.

Artemis had put together a pack for Erin to carry that was full of food and had a few medical supplies in it as well. The old lady would make sure Erin was taken care of on her journey, at least until she reached the next town and could stock up on supplies. She had congratulated Erin again on training pokemon "the old-fashioned way." Thirty minutes after Erin had finished eating, the group was ready to head out.

"Thank you again, Artemis. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you for what you've done for me and my pokemon," Erin said as she gave the lady a hug.

"What did I tell you yesterday?" she replied.

"I know, I know: my company was payment enough. I'll never forget you, though."

"Thank you, child. I don't think I'll forget you either." Then she turned to Abadon. "And you, you big oaf: you take care of her. You mean a lot to her, and she to you, so both of you had better take care of each other."

"I will, ma'am," the charizard answered humbly.

With that, Erin situated her new backpack to a more comfortable position on her shoulders and the group left, headed toward the mountains in the distance. Khyt had suggested that, if Turner was still chasing them, that their trail would be more difficult to follow on rock. Then, maybe in a day or two, Abadon would be well-rested enough to fly them to a city. After that they would be virtually untraceable.

Soon after leaving Artemis' clearing the forest turned darker and more brooding. The leaves were shriveled, the grass was sparse, and the bushes were mostly bundles of twigs. There was not a pokemon to be heard. Erin missed Artemis already.

As they neared the mountains the number of trees dropped even further. The roots of the trees would have a harder time taking root in the rough soil, so the group wouldn't have much cover besides the rock itself until higher up, where the coniferous trees would begin to appear. Erin was glad they had plenty of food, because there wasn't much she could do with pine cones. Chasm would only eat a little in the morning and at night, as would Khyt, Abadon wouldn't eat again for the next few days since he had eaten his fill the day before, so all Erin would have to pay attention to would be Nero. She would feed him a little bit of whatever she ate once she got hungry.

After a while, however, Erin noticed that something was up with Chasm. The umbreon was walking beside her and was silent, as usual, but Chasm also looked around more than usual. She would glance to her left and right and her yellow eyes constantly surveyed the terrain, as if searching for something. Erin didn't ask her about it yet though, in case it was something personal.

When Erin's stomach growled an hour or so later, she decided that they should all take a break so she could eat. She handed Nero a piece of bread and he scampered off with it as if he had just discovered a pirate's hidden treasure. He then flew up and sat on Abadon's head to eat it, which amused the charizard greatly. Now Erin would confront Chasm.

Erin caught the umbreon's eye and held it, attempting to draw understanding.

"I think I know where we are," Chasm told her privately, comprehending Erin's gaze.

Erin's eyes widened at this unexpected news. "What?" she asked. "How?"

Chasm's eyes shifted to a rock formation to her left. "If I am correct, which I usually am, than this is they very mountain on which I used to make my home."  
"What!" called Erin, louder than she meant to, which drew the stares of the other three. "Oh, it's nothing," she tried to cover with a wave of her hand. When that only drew annoyed stares she said, "Fine, it is something, but I'll tell you later." This satisfied her friends for the time being and Erin resumed her conversation with Chasm.

"What do you mean you used to live here?"

"Just what I said. My pack and I, we chose this mountain because of its remote location. If you remember I… I used to despise humans, for what they had done to this land. Even now I am not able to trust most of them, but I have learned that some, like you, have the best interest of the world at heart. Well," she continued. "My pack also despises humans, so we went as far away from them as possible. There is an area further up that has a giant lake and a canyon, as well as caves next to a leveled off clearing. This is where we decided to make our home."

"So what happened?" asked Erin.

"My hatred was greater than theirs," Chasm confessed. "Whereas the rest were content on driving off the rare human that dared to enter our territory, I thought we should leave and travel around, seeking out humans and their filthy pokemon to destroy them. They refused, so I left alone. It was in that state that we met and you opened up my eyes."

Erin remembered that day clearly, for it was during the battle with Chasm that Abadon evolved from a charmeleon into a charizard.

"We should stay as far down the mountain as possible if we are to avoid them," Chasm said.

"Avoid them? Don't you want to see your family again?"

"I now trust and travel with a human, that I do; they would not understand."

"Yeah, but-"

"Its better this way," the umbreon said, ending the conversation. "I am fairly certain that I can safely navigate us to the other side."

"Okay, I guess," Erin consented. "If that's what you want."

Now finished with her quick meal, Erin explained things in condensed terms to the others, who were equally interested. Then she hoisted her pack and the group set off again, this time with Chasm in the lead.

_Ping_

A droplet of water hit Erin directly on her nose. She looked up at the sky.

_Ping_. Another on her forehead. The clouds above were only a light gray, so the rain wouldn't fall too hard, but to their left, the direction from which the wind was blowing, they were considerably darker. A storm was coming.

"We should find shelter," said Khyt, who was more in tune to the environment that the rest because of his type.

"We will keep moving, that we will," pushed Chasm, unwilling to stop.

"No," persisted Khyt. "We need to find shelter. A major storm is going to hit us in under the hour and we don't want to be in this open space when it does. It would be best to wait it out and continue when its over." As if on queue the wind started to pick up and Erin looked at the sky again, noticing the sinister movements to the clouds.

Chasm turned to face them, her delicately fine black fur waving in the wind. She could feel the slightest change in air currents and could thus judge an opponent's movements in a way that bordered on precognition. Chasm knew the severity of the storm that was coming yet was still choosing to ignore it, despite the danger it could cause them. She must really not want to waste any time in getting away from this mountain and her family. There was more to this than the simple fact that the umbreon did not want to be seen traveling with humans.

She sniffed the air and could taste the coming tempest on her tongue. "Yes," she consented. "We'll find shelter. But we'll continue along this path and the first decent overhand or cave that we find we'll use as a refuge from the storm, that we will."

Erin nodded, glad that Chasm came to this conclusion on her own, or else Erin would have had to step in and make it for her. She didn't want to fight with Chasm, so soon after they had helped each other escape from the Agency. "Lead the way, Chasm."

The umbreon turned back around under the steady rhythm of light rain. Erin allowed Khyt and Nero to move ahead of her in the line and lingered back next to Abadon.

"What's up with the feline?" Abadon sarcastically asked Erin out the side of his mouth.

"I'm not certain," Erin answered, "But it has something to do with her family. They must have really had their differences, because she doesn't want to risk meeting up with them again."

"Family problems; I know what that's like."

"I guess all three of us have that in common, then," replied Erin.

Abadon looked down at her, hearing the bitterness in her voice mixed with sadness. "I knew you had some family issues, but what's up?"

Erin hesitated, unsure if she wanted to divulge any information on the subject, but then realized that Abadon was her best friend, pokemon or no, and should always be honest with each other. "My dad isn't the best role model in the world," she began. "He drinks a lot, or at least he used to, so my mom left him a while back. She's supposedly the responsible one, only she's not that good with kids, or doesn't really like them, so when she left my dad, I got to stay with him."

Erin paused for a bit, gathering her thoughts and rubbing her arms for warmth in the chill breeze. The rain had started coming down a bit harder and they were all getting wet, though not uncomfortably so. "My mom comes from a rich family and inherited all their money. At least, she will inherit it once her dad dies, but she can spend as much of it as she likes and doesn't have to worry about it getting low. It's thanks to that money that I was able to go to the Academy, because the tuition is really expensive and the school has to pay for all the costs of laboratory stuff, buying cloned pokemon, et cetera. My dad didn't care that I was gone for so long because that meant he didn't have to worry about taking care of me and could drink whenever he wanted."

Abadon rested an understanding hand on her shoulder, giving Erin what comfort he could at the time. "Thanks, Abadon," she said, giving him a weak smile.

He drew her in a bit closer as the wind picked up again, bringing more rain with it. "Chasm!" he called to the front of the line. "Don't you thing we need to find somewhere to wait out the storm?"

"We have not passed a suitable cave yet, in case you haven't noticed."

"She's almost as testy as when we first met her, don't you think?" the Char asked Erin with a smile. It had the desired effect of lifting her spirits and Erin smiled as well.

"Didn't you say there were some caves higher up?" Erin asked Chasm.

"We do not need to go any higher, that we don't," the umbreon persisted, immobile in her decision. But in a few minutes the wind became a howling gale and the rain came down in torrents, drastically minimizing visibility.  
"Chasm!" they all persisted. "We need to get out of this storm! If you know where caves are, then find them!"

"Fine!" she finally complied, only when it had gotten so bad that the storm had nearly canceled out all of her senses. Erin could barely hear her own calls to the front of the line. "Follow me!"

Their path up the mountain would have been perilous to begin with, but was now doubly so due to the storm. The rocks were slippery and dirt provided no solid footing, not to mention vision was terrible. Abadon covered Erin as much as was possible, but she was soaked to the bones none the less. They were all miserable, but as bad as it was, it was only getting worse.

Then suddenly they could see everything around them for a split second as lightening struck the forest below them in a blinding flash. The rumble of thunder that came after resounded within Erin's chest, pretending that it had a hold on her breathing. Nero hid under Abadon's wing, frightened. A minute later another flash came.

"Chasm!" called Abadon again.

"We're almost there!" Her words were muted against the moan of the wind and the steady pounding of the water from the sky.

Erin was getting tired and didn't know how much longer she would be able to travel in this weather.

But then the ground leveled off and an opening in the mountain reaching about a foot taller than Abadon appeared before them. Chasm entered swiftly, the rest of the group following.

"No one talk," the umbreon said. "Most of the caves in this mountain are connected in one way or another and voices travel far. With any luck, however, we won't be anywhere near my pack, that we won't."

"What's that smell?" asked Khyt, sniffing the air. "It smells like something's burning."

"Most likely the orange one," commented Chasm in her usual sarcastic manner. "If you haven't noticed, there is a flame burning at the end of his tail, that there is."

"No, Chasm," said Abadon, having learned long ago to ignore the umbreon's snide remarks. "I think Khyt's right. It's not just a burnt smell, but almost like a tree or rock smells after it's been struck by lightening and then caught fire."

"My, aren't we being a bit specific," said Erin with a raised eyebrow.

"But the Char is right," came a voice from the dark recesses in the back of the cave. "That is exactly what we smell like."

Erin jumped at the sound and stood ready to defend herself as Khyt tried to keep Nero behind him in protection, although Nero kept peeking around trying to see who it was that was cloaked in shadow. Chasm's ears drooped as she whispered, "No," under her breath, her large yellow eyes glowing eerily in the darkness of the cave.

"What is it?" asked the ever-eager mew.

"A houndoom," stated Abadon calmly. "A few feet behind the houndoom is a jolteon; but beyond that I can't see because they're coming out of a tunnel in the back." Abadon, like any fire pokemon, was able to switch his vision to thermal, seeing heat instead of light, therefore easily able to distinguish the shapes in the shadows. The smell of fire and electric types mixed to create a distinct odor.

"Who are you?" asked Erin cautiously.

"I should be asking the same of you, intruders," answered the houndoom in a voice as cold as steel. He strode into the light created by Abadon's tail flame and his shadow danced menacingly on the stone wall behind him. At his side was a jolteon, silently watching Erin and the others for any suspicious movements.

"Intruders? We didn't mean to intrude," Erin apologized, not wishing for a fight. "We simply needed to get out of the storm. It's too dangerous out there."

"You should not have been on our mountain at all, human," the houndoom, obviously the leader, continued, his breath smelling slightly of sulfur. "If you do not leave immediately, despite the storm, you-"

"Wait, Terr" The sweet, melodic voice belonged to a sleek espeon who now stood at the houndoom's right side, opposite that of the jolteon, who had still not spoken. Terr the houndoom, stopped to hear her out, which meant the espeon was a highly respected member of this group. She was calmly looking ahead of her to a spot on the ground slightly behind and to the right of Khyt.

The houndoom followed her gaze and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Hello, Chasm," said the espeon, her voice void of any emotion.

"Hello, Sel," answered Chasm.

Of course! Erin mentally hit herself for not realizing it earlier. This was Chasm's old pack!

Terr's lips sneered in disgust. "After leaving us for the reason you did, you now return with a _human_!" he growled, snapping in Erin's direction. Abadon moved ahead of her in protection.

"There is much to discuss," was Chasm's answer.

"No!" cried the houndoom. "There is nothing to discuss. You have betrayed us! You will leave now or you will not leave at all!"

"Perhaps we should at least listen to her explanation," said the jolteon, speaking for the first time.

Terr, the houndoom, was silent for a moment, contemplating his options. "Sel," he spoke to the espeon. "What is your view on this matter?"

Sel was quiet for a time as well. "We should hear her out," she said at last.

"I am grateful, that I am," said Chasm, bowing her head. She followed the three when they turned and walked to the other side of the cave. Due to the distance and ambient noise of the rain outside, the group was unable to hear them.

"This is happening too fast," said Erin, leaning up against the wall of the cave opposite Chasm. "Chasm found her pack and they almost decide to kill us but now they're talking it out and I don't have the slightest clue what they're saying."

"I can help you eavesdrop, if you want me to," said Nero, innocent as always.

"How?"

"He's psychic, remember?" asked Khyt. "He can get into their minds. Actually, you will only be able to breach the jolteon's mind, for the other's types will inhibit that ability," he said to the mew.

"That's fine," Nero replied. And before Erin had time to say anything in response, she was shocked to hear the conversation across the room as if it were happening right in front of her."

_"Explain your companions,"_ Terr was saying. Erin had missed some of the conversation, but not much.

_"I assume you are referring to the human in particular,"_ answered Chasm. _The human?_ Had Erin been reduced to that label so quickly now that Chasm was once again with her pack?

_"You always were a quick one when it came to wit,"_ the houndoom replied with the same sarcasm that Chasm herself used in her banter with Abadon.

_"Very well. First of all, her name is Erin, not merely The Human. Second of all..."_ here she hesitated. _"She is unlike any human I have come across before."_

_"Explain yourself."_

_"She does not hold to the belief that all pokemon require a master to be able to function properly. She is from an Academy, which is a place where humans learn about pokemon and then are given a lab clone as a pet and are expected to attempt to train them. Erin does not possess a clone because she was expelled from her school for protecting a pokemon. She _protected_ one of our kind, lab pet or not, over a human."_

_"One kind act does not free her of the sins of her kind."_

_"When we met I attempted to kill her, that being the reason I left here in the first place. When I did not succeed, Erin healed me and forgave me for what I had attempted to do. I am not saying that all humans should be left alone now. On the contrary; a while later a large group of humans captured us and brought us to a place of which I still do not understand its meaning. I do know they intended us harm, and inflicted much of it upon Erin and the Char. Despite this, she freed me and many other pokemon at the cost of her own life. She believes us to be capable of her same level of intelligence, and works with us. She does not control us, but allows us to make our own decisions. She is a human that deserves to live among our kind."_

Here they were all quiet. Terr stole a glance at Erin and the others, who were all staring at their huddle intently and were now forced to suddenly look away coughing as if they had been looking at something else entirely. Terr snorted and a whiff of smoke came out his nostrils. He rose and strode over to Erin, his decision made. Whether it was in her favor or not would soon be made perfectly clear.

_"I thought you had forgotten about us."_ It was the jolteon who had spoken under his breath, thinking no one else would be able to hear. But Erin, who was unaware Nero still had a lock on his mind, was able to hear perfectly.

_"I could never forget about you, Jasper,"_ answered Chasm, equally quiet, yet equally heard. Maybe there was more to this than Erin was formally aware.

The houndoom who had control of their current fate now regally stood in front of Erin, causing her to feel rather diminished in prospect. She was still soaking wet, though that was improving thanks to Abadon's tail flame, which she now appreciated fully.

"My name is Terr," he spoke. "This is Jasper and this is Sel," he said, cocking his head in their respective directions. I am the leader of this pack and my word is final. Will you accept that, human, without question, despite the outcome?"

"Yes, sir, I do." Erin could not honestly think of anything else to say, or any other way to refer to the houndoom. _Your majesty _simply didn't fit.

Terr seemed slightly put off by the courtesy. "You and the pokemon that wish to follow you may stay until the danger of the storm has passed, but then you must leave."

_"He would let you stay, if you wanted…" _Jasper whispered. Chasm made no reply, and Erin motioned for Nero to disconnect the mind contact. It was no longer necessary and it was starting to freak her out.

"I will go back through the tunnel and tell the others what has transpired here." Terr made his way to the back of the cave and was then lost from sight.

"You should feel honored," said Chasm, her usual pride gone from her voice. "This is the first time Terr has let a human stay on his territory with his knowledge." Her large yellow eyes appeared sad, devoid of their usual vigor.

"Thank you," Erin said to the other two eevee evolutions. "I know that you two helped to convince him to let us stay."

There was a tension in the air and it seemed to grow thicker at Erin's innocent comment. Sel, the espeon, looked away. "I had not seen my sister in a long time and wished to spend what fleeting time with her as I could."

"Sister?" said Abadon, surprised. "You didn't tell us you had a sister."

"You never asked, orange one, that you didn't."

"I missed you, sister," Sel said, still not looking at Chasm.

"And I, you," the umbreon replied.

Jasper remained silent.

"Chasm," said Erin. "Can I talk to you over there for a second?" She pointed to a corner of the cave a ways over, closer to the back but still in the light.

"Very well," Chasm said, rising and following Erin.

"Chasm…" Erin began once she was sitting down on the cold stone floor. "Chasm, when we leave here, when we have to leave and we continue traveling I, I want you to stay."

Chasm's ears perked up. Erin had definitely caught her attention. "What makes you think I want to stay? I left for a reason," she hissed.

"Yes, because you wanted to rid the world of humans and the rest of your pack didn't see things the same way. But now you know not all humans are stupid idiots. Many are, but not all. So now you and your pack see more eye to eye. You miss them; I can tell."

Despite the tenderness in Erin's voice, Chasm would have none of it. "I left for my own reasons and I'll return when and if I feel the need to. I am not one of the lab clones that you can tell me what to do. I come and go when and where I please," she spat. Instantly, Chasm could tell she had injured Erin's feelings, despite the human's attempts to hide it. Many old wounds had been opened up all too quickly and she wasn't entirely certain as how to deal with them.

"Okay, sorry I even mentioned it," Erin mumbled as she stood up and shuffled back over to Abadon. Chasm wanted to apologize, but her pride kept her from it.

The cave was in silence for a while, and then Khyt came over and sat next to Erin. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," Erin said with a weak smile.

"I suppose I did," the scyther replied with a chuckle. "I'm afraid that I'll have to impose and ask another one, however."

"Fire away."

"Do you remember when we were escaping from the agency and there was that big room with the computer?"

Gods, it seemed like years ago… "Yes."

"Well, at one point you clicked on something that said 'War Time' and cursed when you read what it said. What was so important?"

It took Erin a second, but then she remembered what Khyt was talking about. "There's this big war going on, Khyt. The media doesn't have much concrete evidence on it, so we don't know if it's region against region, country against country, or if the whole world is going crazy. But now I know who's initiating it."

"You don't mean…"

"Yeah," Erin sighed. "Turner, in his insane quest for power, started a war in hopes that all the countries or regions or whatever would get so paranoid that they would shoot blindly and destroy each other so he could come in behind, clean everything up, and take over. The man wants to control the world."

"Something tells me you won't simply take that lying down."

"No. When we leave here I'm going to find a town. I need to call Professor Chronal and tell him what's been going on. He'll believe me, though I doubt anyone else will, and will help me."

Khyt's breathing became shallower as he was beginning to put see where Erin was going with this. "Help you do what?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"I need to go back. That's why we need to get away from him now, so that we can heal up, think of a plan, and attack him before he can attack anyone else."

"You want to go back there!"

"I have to, Khyt! I'm the only one who's ever escaped from the Agency. For all I know, I'm the only one who wanted to. I have an obligation to the rest of the world to stop him and keep him from taking over. Damn it all! I don't know how I'm going to do it, that's why I need to talk to Chronal. He's the genius."

Khyt nodded. "If that's what you feel you must do, then I will help you in any way I can."

"Khyt, I can't ask you to do something as crazy as this for me."

"Nero has forged him mind with yours, which means he will follow you to the ends of the earth and back and never otherwise. I'm his guardian, which means I must follow him. He follows you, I follow him. So, I'll be coming with you."

Erin's spirits were now lifted immensely. "Thank you, Khyt, I really appreciate it."

"Think nothing of it."

Terr appeared through the tunnel again. "The others understand what has occurred in this cave and they accept my decision. But now, it seems, you will have to leave."

"What?" exclaimed Erin. "You said we could stay until it stopped raining!"

"He said no such thing," interrupted Chasm. "He said that we could stay until the danger of the storm passed. It may still be raining, but it's not raining hard, that it's not. The storm itself is over. You will only get mildly wet."

"Fine, I understand," Erin answered stoically. "Thank you for your hospitality. We'll be leaving now." She stood up and shouldered her pack, careful of her arm. It still gave her sharp pains whenever she used it too often or put too much pressure on it. Abadon thanked them as well and followed her out along with Khyt and Nero. Chasm glanced behind her one last time and then she, too, walked past the wall of slowly falling water.

No one spoke for a while. Everyone was slightly depressed. They were all tired and now, once more, they were all wet. Now that the sky was clearer though, they could see the lake that Chasm had told them about. They were all absorbed in their own thoughts as they traveled back down the mountain. So much absorbed, in fact, that they almost walked headlong into a large camp without even realizing it.

"-the hell," said Erin. Since she was once more at the front of the line, she noticed it first.

A few men were playing cards on the outskirts of the camp underneath a tarp that was strung between trees. Behind them were more tarps and trucks that held some pretty expensive looking equipment. They looked up when they noticed Erin and her pokemon. No one moved for a second, then, "It's them!" the two men screamed while standing at the same time.

"Shit!" cried Erin, turning and darting off in the other direction surrounded by her pokemon. "Shit, shit, shit! It's him! It's Turner!" She heard the commotion behind her grow in volume and knew the whole camp was now chasing after her. What could she do? She couldn't defend herself. The pokemon would have to do all the fighting, and they couldn't take on all of them at once. Damn, she wished she still had her Bo staff. She was useless! No, no she couldn't think that way. She wasn't useless. If she encountered any of those agents in close quarters she could take them in hand-to-hand. It was just a matter of getting the upper hand in the situation. She had to play this out on her terms, not his.

But it wasn't supposed to happen now! Fighting him when they had backup was going to be her terms! "Gods damn it!" she screamed.

"Now, Ms. Erin. Is that a way for a young lady to speak?"

Erin slid to a halt, almost stumbling over herself while trying to stop so fast. The breath in her lungs fled and her head spun and sweat mixed with the steady flow of rain on her head. Right in front of her, holding _her_ Bo staff, and surrounded by three other agents and a handful of other pokemon, was Charles Turner.

"Good day, Ms. Erin. I am so thankful that we were able to meet again."

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_Wow, a lot happened in this chapter! It wasn't one of my favorites, but that's probably because I hadn't thought it over as well as the others and created some of it as I went. I knew the main plot points; I just didn't know how I was going to get from one to the other. Anyway, I hoped you liked it and are looking forward to the next one!_


	26. Judgment Day

_I haven't known Erin that long, and we got off to a rocky start, but I'd like to think that I know her fairly well. I may be assuming a lot in saying this, but I know Erin better than the others. We've been through a few trials during our friendship and I've always seen her come out on top, no matter what. _

_But the look in her eye that I see now… I've never seen that there before. I've never seen that fear there before. It shouldn't be there, because Erin is not afraid to die. She does not fear death. I've seen her face it head on without a thought about her own safety. This man… This man in front of us put that fear there. It makes me want to kill him, and I have never felt that way about anything before. He hurt Erin, and now I am going to hurt him._

Erin was frozen before Turner. She was unable to move her limbs out of fear and was reduced to a spastic shaking. She was truly afraid. Not for her life, though; Erin did not fear the mystery of death. One word was plastered on her mind now, and that word allowed nothing else in. That word was Iso. Iso was the drug with which Erin had been punished at the Agency. It robbed her off all her senses and left her in a state where she screamed for death. Or tried to, anyway: she was not aware if she screamed or not, because she could not hear while the drug was in her system. She couldn't see; she couldn't taste; she couldn't feel; she couldn't smell. She was left in a complete void, and she would not go back there. If Turner wanted to bring her back to the Agency and punish her by using that drug again, then it would be with her in a body bag. She would not return alive.

With that resolve in mind, her fear was now channeled as anger. How dare he follow them here! How dare he attack them again! She took a defensive stance.

Abadon visibly relaxed. _She is no longer afraid, and that is good. She now feels anger. Anger is not good, but it is better than fear. With anger, action soon follows; with fear, one in immobile and self-destruction follows. _

"Chasm," Erin whispered out the side of her mouth. "You know this land the best. When I give the signal, I want you to run as fast as you can back to your pack and try and convince them to help us. I know you have your differences, but they'll listen to you before any of us. We'll need all the help we can get."

"Right," the umbreon agreed with a swift nod.

"Abadon, this fight will have to end it."

"What are you whispering about over there?" interrupted Turner. "You will not escape me this time."

"He's right, Abadon," Erin continued, still talking under her breath. "We can't all escape, and even if we did, he would continue his mad search for us. This will be the end."

"I agree," said the Char. He, too, took a defensive stance, remembering the unique training that was given to him by Erin that day by the sea so long ago, right before they entered Lilnith city and all this madness began. _She is determined now, and when she makes her move, I will be at her side. I understand what she means by "end" and I will protect her until then._

"What do you want with us, Turner?" Erin called to him, trying to buy time and find a weak spot. But there was no weak spot, because Turner knew how to fight and would not leave himself vulnerable.

"Come, Miss Erin, you know exactly what I want. I want you. You are the greatest student ever to fall into my clutches, and the fact that you did not fall willingly does not faze me in the least. You _will_ learn to obey my every command!" Toward the end of his short speech Turner's voice began to increase in volume until he was screaming at her. His pride had been severely damaged when Erin had not only revolted after so many months of careful training, but was then able to escape his facility. He would rectify that lapse on his part today, here on this mountain.

Suddenly the girl moved! Turner had been in a defensive stance that allowed for the quick change to an attack if need be, but he had not thought Erin would have charged him so soon. Less than a second after she began to run toward him, the Char matched her stride and the umbreon dashed off in another direction!

Despite his surprise, Turner had no problem blocking Erin's initial attack. After all, he had her Bo staff and she was without a weapon. He did, however, have to move quickly to avoid the charizard's slash attack. Soon, however, the Char was fighting off his agent's assigned pokemon. A lucky few of the agents under Turner had either managed to find a wild pokemon and, even more amazing, capture them, or saved up enough money to purchase another clone. Turner only assigned his elite agents pokemon, since they were extremely valuable and expensive to create in a lab. Over the years he had been able to get his hands on a few strands of choice DNA from other labs. The others came from stolen pokemon. Either way, Turner had a fair amount of pokemon at his disposal.

But none of them meant anything if he could control this Char! And the girl!- she could be his top agent, if only he could control her. He _would_ control her. After this was over and she was back at the Agency, he would inject her with Iso if she even looked at him sideways at him. She would obey him!

Damn, she was fast. After all this time in the wilderness she should be tired and weak: easy pray for him. Instead she moved as deftly as if she had in their training sessions back at the Agency. Her stance was strange as well; she held her arms oddly, as if she were holding something. As if she were holding a… so that was it!

Erin dodged right, then left, swinging and turning her arms in carefully orchestrated motions, anticipating Turner's moves by pretending she also held a staff. At the Agency, Erin had defeated Turner three times with a Bo staff before he deemed that she no longer needed to be trained with that weapon. She had gotten to where the staff was an extension of herself. She could hold it a certain way that made it easier to anticipate Turner's next move and lead him into traps that would ensure her victory. With the staff, she saw it all so clearly; everything was one fluid motion and she barely ever lost her breath.

So, since Turner held a staff and she did not, Erin merely pretended that she was holding one. Sure, it did not give her the advantage, because she had nothing to hit him with, but it would allow her to conserve her energy and stay a safe enough distance from Turner until she could find an opening. It was the only thing she knew to do.

In her peripheral vision Erin could see Abadon battling other pokemon. There was an ekans and a sandshrew, neither of which would ever stand a chance against Abadon, except for the fact that they were fighting alongside a vemomoth, a staru, and a sealeo. The combined force of all these pokemon were causing him some trouble. He was beginning to get angry. Erin could also see Khyt battling to defend Nero a few yards away. A gulpin and its evolved form, a swalot, combined with a nincada and a mudkip, were putting his scythes to the test. She hoped Chasm would soon return, and, preferably, with backup.

Right, left, right, right again, down and back: Erin kept dodging Turner's attacks, but it was getting to be harder and harder. He had most likely figured out what she was doing and was attempting to throw her off. She had to be aware of so many things at once that a single distraction could be her downfall. Not only did she need to focus on Turner's attacks, but also what he would do next. Besides Turner, Erin had to watch her footing so she didn't slip in the ground that was still slick from the newly fallen rain. Then there was everyone else. She had to be aware of where the other agents were who were commanding their pokemon as well as the pokemon themselves. Backing into either one would not be a good thing.

The fight had moved farther up the mountain in the direction Erin and her pokemon had come. They were getting closer to the caves and the giant lake, as well as flatter ground, all of which would hopefully be better for Erin than Turner.

What was taking Chasm so long? Was it possible that Terr and his pack would not come? She had hoped that at least Sel and Jasper would help the umbreon, but perhaps duty to the pack was greater than to a single member. If Terr forbade it, then the others probably wouldn't disobey him.

"You are wearing down, Miss Erin," said Turner smugly. "I have backup on their way, and they will be here shortly. You and your pokemon may have been able to hold out thus far, but when our numbers double, you will all fail." His smile was making Erin sick, but she suppressed the urge to lash out and beat his face in. She wouldn't be able to get close enough.

It was strange, thought Erin, how easily she reverted to the state of mind she held in her later days at the Agency. Then, after her third and last Task, she had repressed all emotion. Even when Turner had mentioned something sadistic about Abadon's containment, her face didn't even flinch. It wasn't just an act that she put on to throw off Turner, Erin realized at some point before she escaped; she truly had been going insane. The constant fighting, the Iso, the containment, the training, barely having any time to rest: it had all begun to take its toll on her. If she had been forced to continue that lifestyle for much longer, she most likely would not have been able to revert back.

The scariest thing about it was that, when Erin had realized this earlier, it didn't bother her. It wasn't until she saw Chasm that she began to come out of that recession, but only seeing Abadon again truly healed her.

But now Erin was going back. For the sake of this fight, she was allowing her mind to revert back into that state. She couldn't allow herself feel any emotion. That way she could fight him like she did before. That was the only way she would be able to win.

"What's the matter, Miss Erin," Turner taunted. "Not feeling well? You don't look too good."

So, her inward change had been physically prevalent as well.

"What's the matter, Sir, don't you recognize me?" It was as if the Erin that met Abadon and the Erin that entered the Agency were two different people. Turner's eye twitched at this question. He knew something had changed.

Then, over Turner's shoulder, she saw another agent. Then two. Then three. More were behind them, and they were all holding a pokeball. Turner's backup had arrived. But a giant black shape jumped out of the bushes next to them and latched on to the agent in the lead, taking him down with no struggle. The shape lifted its head, ripping out the agent's throat in the process. It was Terr! The other agents backed up in surprise, only to end up in the midst of Sel, Jasper, and the rest Chasm's pack. They had come!

Most of the agents had managed to release their pokemon, and in the confusion of the ensuing fight, had also managed to release the pokemon of the few who had been killed upon Terr's arrival. Turner may have backup, but now so did Erin.

Turner seemed slightly unnerved by this.

"What's the matter, Sir," said Erin, her voice a hallow void. "Can't play by your own rules?"

He yelled and fought her with more vigor than ever, pushing her farther and farther up the mountain, away from the rest of the fight. Erin back-steeped and rolled to the side to give herself a second of freedom. But that was all she needed. She pulled out her sole pokeball and pointed it toward the lake to her right. Now was as good as time as any to find out if she grabbed the right one. A stream of red light sparked from the center of the ball and reached to the lake, forming the giant shape of a milotic before becoming solid. It was Celeste!

"Celeste!" cried Erin, who was now once more engaged in battle with Turner. "Help the others!" The milotic turned her head and spotted the other pokemon battling farther down the mountain. With her assistance, they should have an even greater edge.

Erin was tiring down, but she was trying not to show it. She did have a weapon to fight him with! She couldn't win against him like this. She had seen a number of openings that she could have taken if she had also had a staff, but with empty hands she could do nothing. It was beginning to get frustrating.

Suddenly a pillar of fire erupted into the sky along with a mighty roar that could only have come from Abadon. Seconds later the Char leapt into the sky, small streams of fire trailing from his mouth. The battle down the mountain must be going well enough that he was able to get away to look for her, though the explosions and attacks still seemed as constant as ever.

"Abadon!" Erin yelled as loud as she could, so that Abadon would he able to hear her and come to her assistance.

"Oh, no you don't," said Turner. He then lashed out at her viciously with a heavy string of attacks, forcing Erin to back away. Turner then took this moment to reach into his pocket and pull out… a pokeball! He had a pokemon on him this whole time!

He unleashed it in a stream of light that formed into a rather large shape, at least a head taller than Abadon, and the Char was large to begin with. Erin took a step forward to renew her fight with Turner but then halted in her tracks.

"Oh…gods…"

"Amazing, isn't it?" asked Turner with a malicious smile.

Standing a few meters away, ready to take on Abadon, was a tyranitar! But this one was horribly deformed in a way that must have been painful. A normal tyranitar had spikes covering its back, but this one had an innumerable amount, all sizes and sticking out at odd angles, making it seem larger and more grotesque than it should have been. Its muscles were budging so much that it seemed as if they would rip the tyranitar's rock-hard skin if it moved. Teeth protruded from its mouth with no sense of order. Its eyes harbored no pupil that Erin was able to see.

"I thought those were extinct," said Erin.

"No more than your charizard, Miss Erin, though that will soon change. Nothing is impossible in a lab. We were even able to improve it, as you can surely tell. Tyranitar!" he called. "Kill the Char," Turner said with stern clarity.

Abadon paid no attention to the tyranitar and flew strait at Turner, nostrils billowing smoke. His course was drastically changed, however, as he took a powerful Hyper Beam attack directly in his chest. The blast from the armor pokemon knocked Abadon out of the air and he slammed into the side of the mountain. He would have his hands full with this new opponent; Erin would have either have to by more time or find another way to defeat Turner by herself.

Seeing Abadon again had served the same purpose as it had last time: it brought Erin out of her mind's recession. When the Char flew to help her she was filled with joy, and when he was hit she felt fear for his wellbeing, as well as anger toward Turner for commanding the mindless drone of a pokemon to do such a thing.

According to Turner's teaching, the only way to fight was with no emotion, and when Erin fought like that, as she had been doing, Turner knew what to expect. Emotion was good, Erin decided, but only when used right. She had to channel her emotions to give her strength and clarity. She would fight for the safety of her pokemon, which was something Turner could never understand, and that would give Erin an edge.

He came at her again, content that his tyranitar could deal with the charizard easily. She dodged and dove to the side, grabbing and chunking a rock in his direction in the process. He was easily able to knock it aside using the staff, but she didn't give up. She was persistent, and fighting with a new vigor. What had initiated that, Turner couldn't figure out.

The rain fell harder; the storm was picking up again. Suddenly, the mountain shook with tremors caused by his fight with the tyranitar. It was said that, in the old days, a tyranitar could move mountains. Erin didn't know if that was true or not, but she didn't doubt their strength.

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Abadon snarled in pain as his opponent delivered an Iron Tail into his side. But the tyranitar's next attack, a Dynamic Punch, was deflected sideways as the Char came back with a Fire Punch, striking the armor pokemon directly between the eyes. The tyranitar recoiled, howling, its whole head consumed in flames. It doused them by performing Sandstorm. The dust and dirt in the air quickly put out the fire and provided an easy cover it could see through more easily than Abadon was able. But Abadon sensed this and let out a heavy Smokescreen, making the playing ground even.

It wasn't that way for long. The rain settled both the dust and the smoke almost as soon as they had appeared. Both pokemon were soaked, but neither noticed.

The tyranitar Roared, causing a shockwave that blew Abadon off his feet, but he quickly righted himself and flew at his opponent, hitting it with a Steel Wing. Once he passed, Abadon breathed deeply for his next attack. He landed deftly, not loosing his footing in the mud and letting loose with a Fire Blast at the exact moment the tyranitar blasted another Hyper Beam in his direction. The two energies hit each other and created an explosion. Abadon and the tyranitar were now on opposite sides of a small crater. This fight was far from over.

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Erin was busy concentrating on the art of stealth. She was evading Turner at every turn, still looking for that much-needed opening. Whenever she was given the chance, Erin hid behind a boulder or tried to blend in to the mountainside so Turner would over look her. When he came at her she threw rocks and sticks at him. At one point she had discovered a stick she thought she could use as a weapon in the Bo staff's place. It was nearly the right size and fairly straight, but was not nearly sturdy enough, as she soon realized when it was split in two by Turner. Currently, Erin was up in a tree, hiding between the branches and hoping that Turner would not look up. Fat chance.

He charged toward her and was able to throw his weight forward enough that he took one step off the side of the trunk and was then on her same level. At least, he would have been, but Erin leapt backward, performing a back flip and landing silently in a crouch a few feet away from the base of the tree. Then she turned and ran. Turner was right behind. When she could hear his footsteps right behind her (damn his longer stride) she faked left and then dove to the right, sticking out her foot at the same moment, hoping to trip him. But Turner had taught Erin everything she knew and had the staff ready.

He blocked her attack and then swiftly brought the other end down toward her head. It was almost the exact same situation that had occurred at the Agency. Turner almost smiled in victory, but he wasn't the only one who remembered that time. Erin, instead of attempting to block it directly, angled her arm so that the brunt of the blow would glance off, then she grabbed the staff and twisted it to pull it out of Turner's grasp. But he still had a hold on it! Instead, Erin kicked out with her right foot, and Turner brought his up to block. Only, Erin wasn't aiming at him directly, but at his end of the Bo staff. The sudden reverse pressure on his grasp jarred it out of his hands. Erin had her Bo staff!

Erin gave Turner no time to think of a counter measure, but instead flew at him with a flurry of attacks. He dodged and evaded as best he could, but Erin got in a number of good strikes to his body to cause some serious harm. Now he had cuts and bruises to match hers. Erin couldn't take the time to look, but she assumed that she was bleeding as much, if not more, than Turner was. But now that the weapon was in her hands, she couldn't loose!

"I'll tear you apart!" she screamed. But she didn't have the chance, for the next second, both Erin as well as Turner lost their footing in the earthquake that followed. The battle with the pokemon was heating up.

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Almost directly after the Earthquake attack the tyranitar performed, it then used Rock Smash, crushing all the newly formed boulders in to smaller pieces and sending them in all directions at blinding speeds. Abadon was able to bypass the earthquake by taking to the skies, but there was nowhere to hide from this attack. He turned his back and ducked his face but was still hit multiple times. When the onslaught of rocks stopped, Abadon turned back around quickly, in case the tyranitar was about to initiate another attack. Instead it was standing quite still, aside from its deep breaths. Abadon, too, was growing short of breath, but he would not let this opponent have any time to regain strength. He shifted his weight in the air and flapped his wings in a different direction, pushing himself toward the tyranitar in a spiral motion. This allowed for greater speed as he passed the tyranitar, causing greater damage as he raked it with his claws. It was Areowing, and it normally would be a devastating attack, but the armor pokemon barely even flinched.

Abadon flew back around and landed nearer the mountainside in front of the tyranitar. He needed to catch his breath and at the same time he was trying to figure out what it was that his opponent was doing. A pokemon didn't just stop during a battle unless… unless it was gathering power!

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Erin and Turner finally had their balance back and were now at a standoff. Turner knew the danger he would be in if he attacked the girl while she had that weapon in her hand. Then again, there was no way to get it away from her unless he tried something. Erin had not fully recovered from her time at the Agency and then traveling in the wilderness with barely any food. The one night at Artemis' house had not healed her of everything. She was out of breath and bleeding from numerous cuts. If Turner didn't attack her for a while, then that was fine with her. When he did, she would be ready, but for now she was content on resting.

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The tyranitar was gathering energy for a powerful attack! Abadon couldn't let it do that. What if the attack was so devastating that it hurt Erin? What if it killed Erin? No! He wouldn't let that happen! He would stop it!

Abadon felt a growing pressure behind his eyes, and a familiar burning in his lungs. He had felt this way at the Agency, when he broke free of his bonds and rescued Erin. He knew what was happening and embraced it. The tyranitar was building in power, but now so was he. He would be able to cancel out any attack that it could throw at him; he knew this in his bones.

Suddenly the tyranitar threw back its head and spread its arms with a mighty roar, the earth shaking around it. As its bellow increased in intensity, the quaking at its feet increased as well. It glowed with an eerie light that wasn't natural. Abadon's eyes began to glow as well, as a testament to the energy that was building inside him. He could feel what was coming and knew it would be greater than the time before. He was ready.

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Erin felt the rumbling beneath her feet grow more prevalent, as if the quake itself was yearning to be known.

"Feel that?" asked Turner, a wild look in his eyes that was very un-Turner-like. Usually he was either calm and collected or raging mad. This… this was a crazy glare. It made Erin wary. "That's my tyranitar. It's about to perform its greatest attack: Ancient Power. Do you know what that attack looks like? No? That's because nobody does. Anybody who's around to see the attack is consumed by it and doesn't live to tell the tale. Just like YOU!" At this last syllable, Turner broke the stalemate and raced straight toward Erin. Erin, sensing the move, also ran toward him, determined to defeat the man once and for all.

But neither of them got the chance to make the first strike, for at that moment the ground beneath their feet rolled like a wave, sending the two sprawling in opposite directions. The elevated level of the quake came so suddenly that, as Erin hit the ground, her Bo staff was knocked from her grip! But because the ground continued to sway in such a fashion, there was no way for Erin to stand up and get her balance, let alone look for the weapon. She had never seen anything like this. What was happening?

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Huge chunks of rock broke off from the mountain that were easily three or four times as big as the tyranitar itself. Rather than crashing down to the ground below, however, they floated in mid-air, a byproduct of the ambient energy from the Ancient Power attack. The tyranitar was tapping into a power that had not been used in decades; maybe even centuries. He would destroy the whole mountain if things kept up at this rate!

But Abadon would not let that happen. His eyes were white now, glowing from the energy within him. His tail flame was black and the air around him was wavering from the vast amount of heat that was generating from his body. He snarled and the inside of his mouth was a black hole of light. If anyone was there to witness the sight, they would swear that the Char's black stripes were growing to consume his entire body. This wasn't actually happening, but the dark energy was growing so strong around him that the darkness was spreading like a virus, devouring all it touched. It was building; he was ready to let everything go. He would protect this land!

Abadon and the tyranitar moved at the same time. The Char lifted his head to the sky and roared, the ground around him rupturing. The darkness spread suddenly, its tendrils reaching outward in all directions. Then the two pokemon braced themselves for the backlash of their own attacks. Giant beams of light and dark each headed toward the other faster than the eye could track. They met and the two forces at first seemed to collapse in on each other, but then they exploded outward.

For a moment, everything was silent. The humans and pokemon that had been battling on the mountain didn't know what to do: the light was blinding, but the darkness was all-consuming. The wind made no sound as it blew by them in torrents, pushing them farther away from the epicenter. It was almost a peaceful chaos.

Then, suddenly, there was too much sound. The wind screamed and howled and the giant boulders came crashing down, breaking into smaller pieces and then tumbling down the mountain.

When the commotion finally settled down, Erin's breath caught in her throat. She was lying at the rim of an enormous crater! The middle of the crater harbored a small lake of molten lava that was created when Abadon's fire attacks melted the rock. She pulled herself achingly to her feet and looked around. Where was Abadon? Erin had more bruises and cuts than any other time in her life; she should have been sitting back down and resting or risk collapse, but with all the adrenaline pumping through her system, there was no chance for that. No, she had to find her pokemon.

She staggered around the rocks and boulders in her path, searching the edge of the crater. "Abadon!" she called. Why couldn't she find him?

Then, there he was, just like that. He was lying unconscious in the midst of some rubble, but he was alive. Erin began crying with joy. Even the sky had stopped its downpour in celebration. Both of them were ripped and shredded, covered in blood, and completely exhausted, but they would live. Erin's statement earlier had been true: this fight would end it. Erin glanced over to the other side of the crater and saw the remnants of the tyranitar. She had seen some nasty things in her life, but the sight of that mangled pokemon, barely more than a bloody pulp, made Erin cringe and turn her gaze. She looked down at Abadon once more and hugged what she could of his neck.

The Char cracked his eyes enough to see her and smiled weakly. "Do you still blame me for destroying the table at that Pokecenter?" Abadon said, his voice barely audible.

Erin broke into a grin. "Who else has a flame on the end of their tail?" she asked, remembering their conversation from the first 'Center Erin had ever been to. It wasn't just the table, though; a chair or two and at least one vid-screen had been demolished as well. Gods… It seemed like another lifetime. "Listen, knob head, you stay here. I'm going to go see how the others fared and then look for my Bo staff and backpack with the healing supplies. Then I'll come back, get you fixed up, and we'll decide where to go from there. More than anything, you need rest." Despite Abadon's banter, he had come extremely close to dying, and Erin didn't want to chance anything. She patted him on the head for good measure, then turned-

right into an exceedingly livid Charles Turner, Bo staff above his head, already in mid strike. Before she had any time to react, a large pillar of white-hot fire rushed past Erin and completely incinerating Turner where he stood. He didn't even have the time to scream. Within the flames, Erin saw his skin, muscle, and even his bones reduced to nothing but ash. And fire was too hot for even the ash to survive. But the most amazing thing about it was that, at the exact moment when the flames reached Turner's body, he dropped the Bo staff, which landed right at Erin's feet. Fire resistant the weapon might be, but most anything would melt under those conditions.

Erin looked back at Abadon, eyes wide from the shock of what had just happened. "Abadon, you saved my life again! Abadon?" Erin's voice suddenly turned fearful. What was wrong with him? The Char's eyes closed slowly as he rested his head back down on the rock. "Abadon? Abadon, are you okay? Stay with me, knob head." She cradled his head in her arms, settling down. Everything would be okay. Abadon just need rest. And healing potion. She would go find her backpack and get the healing potion that Artemis had given her…

"The table wouldn't have caught on fire if you hadn't tried to take that thing from me…"

"Abadon!" Erin cried. The Char had given one large, emotional sigh, and then stopped breathing. As the last breath of life left Abadon's lungs, his body had turned to ash.

"ABADON! NO, ABADON! COME BACK!" Erin was in hysterics, entirely frantic at watching her best friend die in her arms. How could this have happened? Everything was fine just a minute ago. They had been talking and smiling. They had won! They were free! WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE, GODSDAMMIT!"

Erin lifted her head to the sky and screamed with all the energy left in her body. Then she lay down on the ground and began to cry. She cried long and hard, and it was quite a while before she was able to open her eyes and look about her once more. What she saw calmed her down enough that she could breathe somewhat normally again. On the other side of the pile of ashes that used to be Abadon stood Chasm, Khyt, Nero, Terr, Sel, Jasper, and the rest of the pack, all with their heads bowed, morning the loss of a great warrior.

Great Warrior? That phrase triggered something in Erin's memory. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. The pokemon looked at her, respecting her part in this momentous battle by their silence. Erin stood, picking up the Bo staff, retracting it, and hooking it at her side. She looked about her for something important, then walked off sauntered off back down the mountain. Chasm followed.

"Erin, what are you doing?"

Still searching, Erin answered without looking at the umbreon. "Artemis. She told me this story about warriors. I have to search for the fire gods' home, probably in some big volcano. I have to go there and then everything can be alright again."

"Erin, you are babbling, that you are. You are not making any sense."

"There!" Erin had found her backpack. She grabbed it and threw it open, jogging back up the mountain while she searched through it. She knelt down by Abadon's ashes and took out a container whose that wasn't being used any more. She put the ashes inside it. "Artemis told me about this story about warriors."

"You said that already," said Chasm.

"About Great Warriors of pokemon. What… what happened to… to Abadon, that was part of the story. She said that if this happens then someone who cares about the pokemon can travel to the resting place of their god and bring them back to life." She looked up at Chasm. "I have to do that! I have to at least try." Tears began to once more stream down her already red cheeks. "I need Abadon!"

"I understand, Erin, that I do, about needing someone," said Chasm. Jasper glanced up when she said this, and Erin noticed.

"I want you to stay here, Chasm. You need to stay with your pack. Stay with Jasper."

Chasm looked longingly at the jolteon. "I will return here some day, my love, if the pack permits it, but please understand what I must now do."

Jasper nodded in agreement. "You need to go with the girl. I will wait a while longer."

"Chasm, what-"

"I will eventually return to my pack, Erin, but now I will help you search for the resting place of Abadon's god. Do not argue with me about this any longer; it is settled."

"Me too," said Nero, hovering to rest on Erin's shoulder.

"As will I," added Khyt.

"Thank you, all of you, for your help," said Erin, truly grateful that they were her friends.

"What will the first course of action be?" asked the umbreon.

"We have to go back to Artemis. I have a few questions for her that need answering."

Terr, Sel, Jasper, and the rest of Chasm's pack walked with Erin and her group until they reached the base of the mountain in the direction from which they had come. No one said a word. Erin had her Bo staff, a retrieved milotic, a jar filled with Abadon's ashes, and three friends at her side. She would return to Artemis, ask her if she knew exactly which volcano she would have to travel to, and start off. Erin would travel to the ends of the earth if that's what it took to get Abadon back, but she doubted that would be necessary. She had a pretty good idea of where such a mighty volcano would reside. She just needed to be certain.

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_A/N: To Bone White Butterfly: I _know _it's a pokemon fic. But, if you read my bio (which you probably didn't, because no one reads those), it states that I hate the show and felt that so much more could be done with it. That's why I started this story in the first place. And I also know some parts get confusing and whatnot. One reason is because sometimes I forget certain things I've written in past chapters, so it conflicts (or it makes sense in my head and I think everyone should understand it the way I do). Another reason is because it's not _supposed_ to make sense yet._

_To all my other readers (shout-outs to Keleri, Luna Nightraven, VulpixTrainer, Yawgmoth, and all the others): thanks for staying with me this long! There's one more chapter to come. It probably won't give you any answers, but it will leave you with more unanswered questions. It's my gift to you. Bwahaha._

_And if anyone was wondering, the attack Abadon used against the tyranitar was called Judgment Day. That's some crazy ass power there. _

_Also, I really liked writing this chapter. I think my skill on narrating fight scenes has improved over the course of this story. Actually, I think a lot has (and the chapters have increased immensely in length). I went back and read the first few chapters a while back and –man- could they do with some improving. But I won't revamp them, because I have something else that I'll start on shortly. That is, if the rest of you want to know what happens…_


	27. Epilogue

Erin hadn't stopped to rest, even for five minutes, on the trek back to Artemis' clearing. She was so determined that nothing else seemed to get past that determination into her brain, whether it be hunger or exhaustion. She had learned to live with both at the Agency.

So this is where Erin found herself: standing in the middle of a clearing that they had visited just that morning. Had it only been that morning? It was turning to night, now, but it seemed like eons ago that she had set foot in this forest. And that sensation felt almost overpowering as she looked on, stunned.

"What… What happened?" she asked to no one in particular.

"It smells all wrong," noted Chasm. "It didn't smell like this the last time."

"That's because it looked different last time," said Nero, ever stating the obvious.

Erin stood in front of Artemis' house. Only, it wasn't Artemis' house, because Artemis' house wasn't aged and old, crumbling beneath its own weight, as this one was. It was impossible for this transformation to have occurred. No one was here; the house appeared to have been deserted for decades. But they were just there that morning, which only added to the mystery.

No, she _had_ to be here! Who else could answer Erin's questions? Who else could point her in the right direction? Erin had an idea of which volcano it might be, but she wasn't certain. Artemis would know, but she wasn't here!

"Should we go inside?" asked Khyt.

Erin didn't answer verbally, but took another step forward and walked through the same doorway she had exited earlier that day, only under drastically different conditions: earlier, the doorway had actually had a door. There was no food in the kitchen and no furniture in any of the rooms, just lots and lots of dust. Dust that had been piling up for a long, long time. Finally, Erin entered the room that had once been Artemis' library, hoping for some answers in one of her books, but even those had disappeared, along with the paintings on the wall.

She walked in and stood in the middle of the floor, feeling all hope drain from her veins. As Erin turned to leave, she almost missed it, but the way the light and shadows met on the ground out of the corner of her eye seemed wrong. She knelt down and picked up a flat board. Under the dust, she could feel the texture of a canvas, so she brushed away the dirt and grime. It was one of Artemis' painting, one of the ones portraying the gods that used to hang on the wall. It was the only thing in this house that gave the slightest inkling that Artemis even existed at all.

Erin set the painting back down where she found it and walked out of the room, and then out of the house. She began walking south, the setting sun to her right casting long and eerie shadows. Soon, they would stop and make camp for the night, but for now she was content to walk.

"Erin," asked Nero, as innocent as ever. "Where are we going now?"

"There's a volcano, one that's pretty well known around the world, that lies to the south. A gym leader used to keep his gym there, but it's been abandoned and dormant for centuries. We're going there. We're going to Cinnabar Island."

Back in the house (Erin couldn't really bring herself to call it Artemis' house anymore), sat the painting. Once upon a time it had shone with all the brilliance that the painter had intended, but now the paint had cracked and the colors had faded. Despite this, the figure in the painting was still quite noticeable, for there was none other like it in the universe. Back in the house, lying on the floor, the only remaining artifact from a world that was mostly unknown to humans, was a painting of the Aurora pokemon, known to most as Suicune.

0000000

THREE AND A HALF MONTHS EARLIER

"What do you think it is?" The boy asked his companion.

His companion did not answer.

"I don't have the slightest clue what it is," the boy said to himself.

His companion still had no comment.

"I'm just going to press something and see what happens." The boy held a flat red devise about the size of a small book in his hand. It lay open with a number of buttons of numerous colors adorning its surface. The boy hadn't the slightest clue as to what was or what it did (his companion was no help at all), but he had seen the girl using it before, so he knew it did something, and probably something of importance.

He pressed a button. Nothing happened. He pressed another button. Still nothing. He pressed the large blue one toward the top and suddenly the devise sprang to life. A computer screen appeared, much like the one he had used when he still attended an Academy. Actually, it was exactly like it. Only Academies and other important, high-tech facilities had light screen technology. Light screen technology was a science that harnessed light and forced one of its properties to be dominant over the other. Until recently it was thought that light was made up of waves. While this is true, it had been discovered that light also shows characteristics of particles called photons. The light screen technology forces the light to become mostly photons, thus becoming solid and able to be used in an innumerable amount of ways. The Academies used this technology to create computer screens and the like for easy-to-carry laptops that had many more capabilities than before.

The boy looked at this devise curiously. Well, perhaps more curiously than before. He began typing on the light screen keyboard that had appeared along with the computer and found a phone book with only one number in it. He pressed the screen, clicking on the number, and a phone began to ring. A man appeared on the screen, at first excited, but then perplexed at what he saw. But before he got a chance to say anything, the boy spoke.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

"Who am I?" replied the man. "I should be asking you that question. How did you get this pokedex? Where's Erin?"

"You know Erin?" asked the boy. "Do you know where she is? Wait, pokedex?"

"Why would I know where she is? You're the one who's got her stuff."

"I don't know. She disappeared from her room in the Pokecenter last night and I haven't been able to find her. Who are you again?"

"My name is Professor Chronal. Now who are you?"

"I'm Ryan. Erin and I met a while back and we had a pokemon battle. Then we met again in Lilnith City and hung out, but then she disappeared." Ryan was worried about her, as any good friend would be. "I would search for her, but I don't know where to start looking."

Chronal had a perplexed look on his face. "It's not like Erin to just disappear. Something must have happened." Then he looked up into the screen. "She might go to Cinnabar Island. Normally, I wouldn't think she would, but she wouldn't run off out of the blue either, so I suppose anything's possible. Yes, I would start your search there, if you do actually intend to look for her."

"Why there? Why Cinnabar Island?" asked Ryan. Soru, his absol companion, didn't seem the slightest bit interested in the conversation at all.

"It's where she was born."

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_A/N: Light does actually have characteristics of both waves and photons; I didn't just make that up. I read a book on it once, for a science fair project. _

_Anyway, this is the last chapter. I hope you liked the story, 'cause it's over. No more. Ever. Unless you want more, then I have plans for a sequel. I won't write it, though, unless you guys want me to, because there's no point in writing something unless someone's going to read it and review it to help make me a better writer._

_Do any of you remember that picture I promised all of you forever ago? My computer's been fixed for a while, only I forgot about the picture. So I give it to you now. Go here: _boomspeed(dot)com(slash)charpal(slash)erinscrew0001(dot)JPG _to get the picture. It's pretty old by now and I can probably do better now. Actually, I know I can do better. Obviously this was before I knew what shading was. I'll have to draw a better one to show you guys for the sequel. If you want to see more of my work, you can find me at charpal(dot)deviantart(dot)com. _


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